Ladan moved to the oil and gas industry in 1990. He held various positions in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), rising to the position, Group General Manager of Human Resources in 2004. In 2006, he was appointed as the Deputy Managing Director/CEO of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Shell, Total and Agip as shareholders. In October 2007, he was appointed Group Executive Director (GED) Commercial and Investment of NNPC. And in April 2010 he was appointed the Group Managing Director after a brief recess from the industry. However, barely forty days later he was relieved of office by president GEJ 