Kachikwu Takes Over As NNPC GMD

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), according to a Thisday report.

He formally took over from Dr. Joseph Dawha, who was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan last year, at NNPC’s head office in Abuja on Tuesday.

In addition to Kachikwu’s appointment, Buhari also approved the appointment of Professor Umaru Garba Danbatta as the new Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Danbatta replaces Dr. Eugene Juwah whose five-year tenure expired last week.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President, Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Kachikwu, who was the Executive Vice-Chairman and General Counsel of Exxon-Mobil (Africa), hails from Onicha-Ugbo in Delta State.

He is a First Class graduate of Law from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the Nigerian Law School, where he was the best graduating student and multiple awards winner in both institutions.

The new NNPC chief executive also has Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Law from the Harvard Law School.

He started his working career with the defunct Nigerian-American Merchant Bank before moving on to Texaco Nigeria Limited where he remained for about eight years before joining ExxonMobil.