Press Release
Buhari’s Appointment of Ogbonnaya Orji As NEITI Boss will Boost reforms in Oil and Gas Sector— ANEEJ

Buhari’s Appointment of Ogbonnaya Orji As NEITI Boss will Boost reforms in Oil and Gas Sector— ANEEJ

BENIN CITY. February 18, 2021… The African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment of Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji as the new Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), saying his appointment will boost ongoing reforms in the Oil and Gas sector of the nation’s economy.

Executive Director of ANEEJ, the Rev David Ugolor in a statement issued in Benin City today on behalf of Board, Management and Staff of the organization noted that Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji’s track records in the sector aptly qualifies him for the job, describing his appointment as putting “a square peg in a square hole.”

“President Buhari’s appointment of Orji Ogbonnaya Orji as NEITI’s Executive Secretary amounts to putting a square peg in a square hole. He is intellectually, mentally, phycological and physically equipped for the job. One can only urge him to bring his wealth of experience to bear on his new job in NEITI. As ANEEJ, we are prepared to work with him to ensure that NEITI Audit report recommendations are implemented across the various MDAs in the country.” Ugolor said.

Rev David Ugolor assured that Dr Ogbonnaya Orji is patriotic Nigerian and quite versatile with the various issues plaguing the oil and gas industry and was surely going to build on where his predecessor, Mr. Waziri Adio let off.

He called on the new NEITI boss to ensure timely release of NEITI Audit reports and assured him of the support of Civil Society Organisations working in the sector in the country to enable him succeed.

“We are also interested in the speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). This is a Bill we have been campaigning for its passage in the past twenty years and we would encourage Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji to give political and technical support to the passage of the Bill,” Ugolor said calling on the National Assembly to expeditiously pass the Bill without any further delays.

It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the appointment of Dr Ogbonnaya Orji as the Executive Secretary of NEITI. Mr. Willie Bassey, the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, announced the appointment via a statement issued today in Abuja. This is in accordance with the provision of Section 12 (2) (a) and 6 (3) of the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Act, 2007.

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