Leadership (Abuja)
Golu Timothy and Aminu Imam
14 January 2009
Abuja — President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has established a new economic team to buoy his national economic management framework with a Presidential Steering Committee at its apex.
The Committee which will be chaired by President Yar'Adua himself will work with a reconstituted and reinvigorated National Economic Management Team headed by the Minister of Finance, which will establish technical working groups as may be required in accordance with the objectives which underpin the new economic management framework.
Its terms of reference are as follows, assessing the impact of the global economic crisis on Nigeria with particular reference to the nation's annual budget, financial and commodity markets, and recommending appropriate macro-economic policy responses that can further stimulate the economy;
The committee is to also identify more practical measures aimed at shoring up the confidence of investors and increasing production in the real sector, examine other related issues such as unemployment, poverty alleviation, food availability and ensuring a sustainable debt position; and make recommendations on any other issues or actions that may be required.
Members of the Presidential Steering Committee include Governors Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State and Bukola Saraki of Kwara State, as well as the Ministers of Finance, National Planning, and Petroleum.
Others are the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Dr. Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi; the Governor of the Central Bank, Professor Chukwuma Soludo; the President of the National Economic Summit Group, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa; Mr. Bismark Rewane, an economist; Mr. Tony Elumelu representing the Bankers' Committee and Alhaji Aliko Dangote representing Nigerian Industrialists.
Yar'Adua will formally inaugurate the committee and preside over its first meeting on Thursday, January 15, 2009.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman has announced the Presidential Approval of the appointment of Mr. Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo as the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
According to a press statement issued yesterday by the NNPC and signed by Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, the appointment took effect from Monday 12 January, 2009.
Until his new appointment, Mr. Barkindo, whose career in NNPC spanned more than 23 years, was the Coordinator Special Duties where he presided over major projects of the Corporation.
Key positions which have prepared Mr. Barkindo for his new post include: Immediate past Acting Secretary General of OPEC, 2006 where he served with distinction and international acclaim; Deputy Managing Director/Chief Executive Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas; Managing Director/Chief Executive, HYSON/CALSON, an international trading arm of NNPC; General Manager, NNPC London Office, Head, International Trade, NNPC London Office, Special Assistant to the Hon. Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Board members of several NNPC investee companies such as Banks, Oil Service Companies, International Trading Companies among others.
Mr. Barkindo served for a record 15 years on the OPEC Economic Commission Board as Nigeria's National Representative, and in 2006 as Acting Secretary General, he was chair the OPEC Economic Commission Board.
He also chaired the Strategic Production Quota Committee of OPEC.
Mr. Barkindo is an advocate of Climate Change Initiative and has led Nigeria's technical delegation to the climate change negotiations that produced The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as well as the Kyoto protocol to the UNFCCC during which he served on the Bureau of the UNFCC at various times
Mr. Barkindo also served as the chairman of the OPEC Task Force on UNCSD 15 United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, 15th Session.
He was also elected Vice-President of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) at the just concluded climate change talks in Bali-Indonesia, December 2007 and re-elected at COP14 in Poznan, Poland, December 2008.
Prior to his elevation to the Office of Coordinator, Mr. Barkindo was the most senior Group General Manager in the NNPC, a position he held for 10 years.
Mr. Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo was born on April 20, 1959 in Yola, Adamawa State.
The new GMD obtained a B. Sc degree in Political Science in 1981 from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, a post Graduate Diploma in Petroleum Economics in 1988 from College of Petroleum Studies, Oxford University, UK and Masters degree in Business Administration from the South Eastern University, Washington DC.
The new NNPC GMD's succeeds Engr. Abubakar Lawal Yar'Adua who was appointed NNPC GMD in an acting capacity on August 14, 2007. Mr. Barkindo is married and has children and holds the traditional title of Wazirin Musawa in Katsina.
Also appointed by Mr. President is Professor Yinka Omoregbe as Company Secretary/Legal Adviser of NNPC.
Until her new appointment, Professor Omoregbe was Dean, Faculty of Law of the University of Ibadan.
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