President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
Daily Trust reports that the new MD of REA is the first son of late Ahmad Salihijo, Buhari’s foremost consultant when he was the Chairman of the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF).
A statement by the Ministry of Power which announced this on Tuesday morning, said Mr Salihijo from Adamawa State is a renewable energy expert who holds two masters degrees in development studies and project planning.
He has also acquired vast knowledge and experience in power sector development. Salihijo who is in his mid-30s was a technical assistant to former Minister of Environment, Amina J Mohammed. He had been at the helm of climate finance initiatives that include the development of the Green Bond by the ministry for reducing green-house gasses and promoting renewable energy in Nigeria.
In Mayo Belwa, his hometown of Adamawa State, those who know him told Daily Trust that although Salihijo lives in Abuja, he frequents his village where he interacts with friends and family.
His father’s time with Buhari at PTF
A close confidant of Buhari at PTF, the new REA MD’s father was described as a workaholic and a major force behind the success of the Fund.
“If Salihijo was alive he could have been the chief of staff because Buhari trusted him and he had proven his competence; very active, intelligent and focused. He could have shaped Buhari government,” a source close to late Salihijo said.
According to reports, Salihijo was the brain behind Afri Projects Consortium (APC). He worked for PTF along with four professionals: Murtala Aliyu, a former Minister of State, Power; Hajiya Amina Az-Zubair, who at a time became an SSA on MDGs to the President; Nuruddeen Rafinadadi, a former president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), and Abdulrahman Dahiru, the Managing Consultant of APC.
Salihijo, who was at the helm of management consultancy for the fund, played a very significant role in this success story. At a particular time APC was managing over 500 projects. The Fund operated and executed projects with a N2 differential pump price after Abacha hiked the fuel price to N11 per litre from N9.
Born on November 23, 1957 in Ganye, Adamawa State, late Salihijo Ahmad emerged the overall best student of his set when he obtained an upper second-class degree in Quantity Surveying from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1981. Late Salihijo died of cardiac arrest in Abuja on Monday, July 5, 1999, coincidentally at a time when PTF was wound up, reports said.
Meanwhile reactions have trailed the appointment of Mr Salihijo (jnr) aside his competence and being qualified for the role. While some people view the appointment of the junior Salihijo by Buhari as a way of keeping the memory and the legacies of the late Salihijo alive, others have expressed contrary view about that.
More appointments at REA
Meanwhile, President Buhari has also appointed are Olaniyi Alaba Netufo as the Executive Director, South West and Eddi Mietuade Julius as a non-Executive Director for the South-south.
Last Tuesday, the Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman directed the immediate suspension of the former Managing Director, Mrs Ogunbiyi.
The minister also directed an immediate investigation into the activities of the Agency towards repositioning it for better service delivery.
The suspension was said to have followed some apparent infractions in the Agency which prompted the indefinite suspension. Ogunbiyi had handed over to the next most senior officer in the Agency.
