Professor Akintunde Ibitayo Akinwande, nominated for the chairmanship of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission says he will honour the Senate’s invitation for screening after clearing with his current employer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), U. S, A.
Akinwande stated this in a letter, dated 26th October, 2016, addressed to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe.
The letter, sent through the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, was made available to State House reporters yesterday by the presidential spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina.
Akinwande, a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, said he did not turn down the offer by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He wrote: ‘‘News reports in Nigeria that I have rejected President Buhari’s nomination to be Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission have been brought to my attention.
‘‘I have the greatest respect for President Buhari. I am fully behind the change he has brought and is bringing to the way Government business is conducted in Nigeria.
‘‘I am deeply honored that Mr. President and his team thought me worthy for this important national assignment and sought me out for it. I am a tenured professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
‘‘As such I am contractually constrained to seek formally the consent of the university for a leave of absence before presenting myself to the Senate for screening and if confirmed take on the assignment.’’
Akinwande apologised to the Senate Committee for not showing up for the screening process scheduled for Tuesday, noting that it was not out of disrespect for the institution.
