- * Reconstitutes Board And Management Of The Öil Corporation
- President Applauded Over Choice Of Mrs. Okadigbo As Board Chair
By Janet Bassey (Governance Reporter)
There was a tumultuous joy and wide applause across the country on Wednesday, January 5, as President Muhammadu Buhari announced his choice of Senator (Mrs) Margery Okadigbo, widow of the former Senate President of Nigeria and his ex-political ally, as the chairman of the newly reconstituted board and management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC.
Other members of the oil corporation board and management reconstituted in accordance with the power vested in the President under Section 59(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, are Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, Chief Executive Officer of NNPC; Umar I. Ajiya, Chief Financial Officer; Dr. Tajudeen Umar (North East), Mrs. Lami O. Ahmed (North Central), Mallam Mohammed Lawal (North West), Engr. Henry Obih (South East), Barrister Constance Harry Marshal (South-South), and Chief Pius Akinyelure(South West).
President Mohammadu Buhari and Dr. Senator Chuba Okadigbo
A statement on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, from President Buhari's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the appointments take effect from the date of the incorporation of the NNPC Limited.
Also appointed are Executive Commissioners of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission. They are: Dr Nuhu Habib (Kano), Executive Commissioner, Development and Production, Dr Kelechi Onyekachi Ofoegbu (Imo), Executive Commissioner, Economic Regulations and Strategic Planning, Capt. Tonlagha Roland John (Delta), Executive Commissioner, Health, Safety, Environment and Community, and Jide Adeola (Kogi), Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services and Administration.
Earlier appointed are the Board Chairman, CEO, Executive Commissioner, Exploration and Acreage Management, and Executive Commissioner, Finance and Accounts. New appointees at the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority are Francis Alabo Ogaree (Rivers), Executive Director, Hydrocarbon Processing, Mustapha Lamorde (Adamawa), Executive Director, Health, Safety, Environment and Community, Mansur Kuliya (Kano), Executive Director, Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, Bashir Sadiq (Sokoto), Executive Director, Corporate Services and Administration, and Dr Zainab Gobir (Kwara), Executive Director, Economic Regulations and Strategic Planning.
Related Article: 17 Years After Oyi: THE UNTOLD STORY OF SENATOR CHUBA OKADIGBO
They join the Board Chairman, Executive Director, Downstream Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, the CEO, and Executive Director, Finance and Accounts, who had earlier been appointed.
For Midstream and Downstream Infrastructure Fund, new Council Members are; Mr Effiong Abia (Akwa Ibom), Bobboi Ahmed (Adamawa), and Engr. Abdullahi Bukar (Katsina).
President Buhari had last September written the Senate on the administrative structure amendments to the Petroleum Industry Act, which included appointment of Non-Executive Board Members, removal of the Ministries of Petroleum and Finance from the Board of the two new institutions, and appointment of Executive Directors.
Meanwhile reaction has trailed the appointment Senator Margery Okadigbo from the South East zone, as chairman of the new board of the oil corporation. A Development Economist and a Corporate Governance expert, Juliet Okafor, commended President Buhari for what she described as his "painstaking search for competence, integrity and sensitivity to the yearnings of the Nigerian public".
Juliet also applauded Buhari for particularly being "gender sensitive" and for remembering the Okadigbo's who she said are noted for their commitment to excellence and transparency in public and corporate governance practices. She stated that the decision by President Buhari to reconstitute the board of the new NNPC and appoint a highly knowledgeable technocrat and lawyer like Mrs Okadigbo, was a clear indication that the Nigerian leader desires corporate accountability, transparency and best practices for the country in the profitable management of the new NNPC.
"Mr President, with this new board and management, and particularly with the appointment of Mrs Okadigbo, has sufficiently demonstrated that he is not just gender sensitive, he is clear about what he wanted from the new leadership of the NNPC. Senator Margery Okadigbo is known to be a serious minded woman, a quiet character who knows her onions when it comes to prudent management of resources and corporate entities.
"She is also a very refined character whose presence on the board of that oil corporation is definitely going to inspire public confidence in the proper management of the NNPC group noted over the years, as a house of unpleasant practices. Margery is certainly not expected to fail in Mr President's expectation. I commend the president on his choice", Juliet Okafor stated. NNL.
