President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of a new National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG) also known as Governing Board for the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
According to a statement issued by the Director (Press) in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Bolaji Adebiyi, the new Governing Board will be inaugurated in due course.
The composition of the new Governing Board include the Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals Development – Chairman, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance – Member, Group Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) – Member.
Others are President, Miners Association of Nigeria – Member, Representative of the Civil Society Organizations (to be elected by the organizations) – Member, President, Nigeria Mining and Geosciences Society – Member, President, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) – Member, Hannatu Musa Musawa (Journalist), Representative, North-West Geo-Political zone – Member.
Also in the board are – Mr. Lawan Gana Lantaiwa (Consultant), Representative, North-East Geo-Political Zone – Member, Mr. Bernard B. A. Ver (Accountant), Representative, North-Central Geo-Political Zone – Member, Mrs. Anne Adaeze Onyekwena (Representative, South-East Geo-Political Zone) – Member.
Others include – Mr. Emmanuel Chiejina (Lawyer), Representative, South-South Geo-Political Zone – Member, Mr. Gbenga Onayiga (Journalist), Representative, South-West Geo-Political Zone – Member, and Mr. Waziri Onibiyo Adio – Executive Secretary.
Another statement disclosed that President Buhari has also approved the appointment of Mr. Waziri Onibiyo Adio, as the Executive Secretary of NEITI.
Until his appointment, Mr. Adio was a Communication Consultant and Publisher of Metrolope Magazine.
Between 1995 and 2003, he held various editorial positions in Thisday Newspaper and was Special Adviser, Research and Strategy, Office of the Senate President, Federal Republic of Nigeria from August 2003 to October 2004.
He was appointed Communication Specialist by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2004, a position he held until 2007when he left to serve as Director of Communications, NEITI from May 2007 to June 2008.
Mr. Adio graduated with a BSc. (Mass Communication) from the University of Lagos in 1992, and obtained MSc. (Journalism) Degree from Columbia University, New York, United States in 1999.
He also holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Massachusetts, US, 2009.
His appointment, the statement said, takes immediate effect.
