Orji Ogbonaya Orji, the newly appointed executive secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), may have ended up as President Muhammadu Buhari’s only choice for the top job based on his rare technocratic competences and experience, which he has built over the years through extensive education and professional media practice, both at home and abroad.
He was appointed as NEITI head on Thursday, February 18 where he was already working as the director of communications and advocacy, an appointment which President Muhammadu Buhari has already approved, according to the secretary to the government of the federation, Boss Mustapha.
Orji holds a master’s degree in political economy and a doctorate degree in international development, all earned from the University of Abuja. He is also an alumnus of the J. F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, the International Law Institute, George Town University, Washington D.C; the World Bank Institute, the African Development Bank Institute, and the Lagos Business School, among many other institutions.
He has succeeded Waziri Adio, who completed his five-year tenure as executive secretary of NEITI on February 18, the same day Orji’s appointment was announced. The new NEITI boss assumed duties on Friday, February 19.
A broadcast journalist, natural resource governance expert, political economist and development communications specialist, Orji has over 30 years of experience spanning the public service. He began his career at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) before joining the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and later NEITI.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has welcomed with delight the news of the appointment of Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji as new executive secretary of NEITI.
The group managing director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, applauded President Muhammadu Buhari “for the wonderful decision of appointing Dr. Orji as NEITI helmsman to continue the massive reforms currently in progress in the oil and gas industry,” according to a statement signed by the corporation’s spokesman, Dr. Kennie Obateru.
Kyari, who described Orji as a competent technocrat, EITI expert, and resource governance professional, also said he has been deeply involved in NEITI and NNPC engagements on reforms of the oil and gas industry over the past decade, and that the appointment was most timely and well deserved.
He also noted that as a supporting company of EITI at the international level, NNPC was ready to sustain its collaboration with NEITI under Dr. Orji’s leadership in key areas of the agency’s industry audit process, exchange of information and data, commodity trading, contract transparency, beneficial ownership, mainstreaming and overall oil and gas industry reforms under the EITI/NEITI framework.
The NNPC boss further expressed optimism that Orji would help consolidate the gains so far achieved by the NNPC-NEITI joint committee on remediation, which was set up to ensure speedy implementation of all findings and recommendations contained in NEITI independent audit reports of the oil and gas industry.
