GOVERNOR of Anambra state, Willie Obiano has applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Dr. Nnaemeka Ewelukwa the chief executive of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), popularly known as the Bulk Trader.
The Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Awka said the governor in the letter to President Buhari expressed confidence that the new NBET boss will deliver the tasks entrusted to him.
“You couldn’t have appointed a more qualified, competent and reform-minded technocrat for the job.
“It is self-evident that the president recognizes the critical role of the NBET in the electricity value chain in Nigeria and so went for the best to help move the entire power sector in a different direction”, the governor stated.
Governor Obiano recalled that the new NBET CEO played a key role on the team which identified serious legal, regulatory and policy constraints to the development of Nigeria’s electricity and suggested ways to overcome the challenges.
“Due to the exceedingly impressive work done by such outstanding technocrats as Professor Nnaji and Dr. Ewelukwa, the British and American governments, among others, assisted Nigeria to develop the critical power infrastructure”, the governor said.
Obiano also recalled how some global firms as General Electric of the United States, Siemens of Germany and Daewoo Heavy Industries of South Korea took an unprecedented interest in the country’s power sector on account of their dealings with these technocrats.
Dr. Ewelukwa, the NBET general counsel until his appointment, has been involved in Nigeria’s power sector reform for at least 10 years, having worked at the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP), headed by Professor Bart Nnaji before he was appointed the Minister of Power in July, 2011, and led the greatest revamping of Nigeria’s perennially problematic power sector.
As the pioneer NBET general counsel and secretary, he led the team which negotiated with independent power producers on power purchase agreements (PPAs) and thus enabled huge investments from the private sector into Nigeria’s electricity generation business.
The governor said he is confident that Dr. Ewelukwa would bring glory to Nigeria the way a number of Anambra indigenes given critical national assignments discharged their duties meritoriously.
“The whole nation remembers with nostalgia the fantastic work done since the restoration of democracy by such sons and daughters of Anambra State like Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo as the Central Bank governor, Professor Dora Akunyili as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) Director General; Engineer Ernest Ndukwe as the CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Mrs Oby Ezekwesili as head of the Due Process Office before becoming the Minister of Solid Minerals and later Minister of Education; as well as Engineer Emeka Eze as the Bureau for Public Procurement Director General”, he added.
Obiano described Ewelukwa as “infectiously humble and principled, a team player and farsighted leader with a good international exposure, key leadership requirements in today’s globalized world”.
Son of a leading academic lawyer, Ewelukwa studied law at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, before proceeding to the London School of Economics to specialize in international business law and Queen Mary College of the University of London where he took a doctoral degree in privatization of state-owned enterprises and reform of the Nigerian power sector.
Author of three authoritative books on electricity transactions, the new NBET CEO is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Recall that the Minister of Power, Engineer Saleh Mamman, announced two weeks ago President Buhari’s approval of Dr. Ewelukwa as replacement for Dr. Marylyn Amobi, also from Anambra State, whose five year tenure will end on July 24.