President Muhammadu Buhari as finally approved the appointment of Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

He formally took over from Dr. Joseph Dawha, who was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan last year, at NNPC’s head office in Abuja on Tuesday.

Talk of Kachikwu’s appointment was rife in the oil and gas industry for weeks, but the president was reported to have taken his time to do a thorough background check before approving his appointment.

Others considered for the job included Mr. Reginald Stanley, a past Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), who clashed with former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke over payments to NNPC for kerosene subsidy claims.

In addition to Kachikwu’s appointment, Buhari also approved the appointment of Professor Umaru Garba Danbatta as the new Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Danbatta replaces Dr. Eugene Juwah whose five-year tenure expired last week.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President, Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Kachikwu, who was the Executive Vice-Chairman and General Counsel of Exxon-Mobil (Africa), hails from Onicha-Ugbo in Delta State.

He is a First Class graduate of Law from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the Nigerian Law School, where he was the best graduating student and multiple awards winner in both institutions.

The new NNPC chief executive also has Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Law from the Harvard Law School.

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http://monitor9ja.com/2015/08/buhari-appoints-kachikwu-as-gmd-nnpc-danbatta-is-ceo-of-ncc/