Uchenna Izundu
International Editor
LONDON, Dec.18 -- Umaru Yar'Adua, Nigeria's president, has appointed Rilwanu Lukman minister of petroleum resources following screening by the senate.
Yar'Adua had occupied this role himself as did his predecessor Olusegun Obasanjo.
In the 1980s and 1990s Lukman presided over the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and also served as oil minister in Nigeria. His appointment is significant as Nigeria is carrying out a major restructuring of its petroleum industry and state-owned oil company, Nigeria National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC).
Lukman's priorities will to be to restore oil production from the Niger Delta, which has fallen by a fifth since 2006 because of attacks by militants on operators' pipelines and facilities.
Yar'Adua has reconstituted his cabinet following the firing of ministers 2 months ago (OGJ Online, Nov. 7, 2008). At the inauguration Dec. 17, he told his new ministers: "In this period of stark economic realities at home and unprecedented global economic challenges, we all must begin to think out of the box."
Odein Ajumogobia will continue as Nigeria's junior petroleum minister, according to the president. Yar'Adua has also appointed Godsday Orubebe, previously minister of special duties, as the junior minister to lead the newly created Niger Delta ministry, which will coordinate security and focus on development in the area. Yar'Adua has not yet announced a leader for it.
Lukman cofounded Afren, which has assets in West Africa with current production of about 23,000 b/d of oil equivalence and has now stepped down from the company's board of directors. Egbert Imomoh, cofounder and director of Afren, has become its chairman.
Lukman's existing shareholding in the company "will be held in blind trust," Afren said.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected]
