UK Appoints Ex-Buhari Staff, Damilola Ogunbiyi As Co-Chair Of Energy Transition Council
- Anu
- September 23, 2020
- News
- Damilola Ogunbiyi Appointed As Co-Chair Of Energy Transition Council
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The United Kingdom has appointed Nigeria’s former managing director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Damilola Ogunbiyi, as a co-chair of the UN Climate Change Conference’s (COP26) Energy Transition Council.
The UK CoP President, Alok Sharma, will chair the council alongside Mrs Ogunbiyi ahead of the country’s Climate Week 2020.
Mrs Ogunbiyi, who is also the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All, came into limelight last year when the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, suspended her alongside the CEO of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET), Marilyn Amobi, over allegations of infractions.
In the build-up to her UN appointment, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the reversal of her suspension to allow her resign from the government post and pursue her new global role.
Mrs Ogunbiyi previously worked as the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Power and Head of the Advisory Power Team (APT) in the Office of the Vice President where she was responsible for the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP), a series of policy actions, operational, governance and financial interventions to be implemented by the Federal Government of Nigeria over a five-year period (2017-2021).
Before joining the federal government, she was the first female General Manager of the Lagos State Electricity Board.
Meanwhile, prior to her new appointment, she was a consultant for the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DfID) on public-private partnerships and had held various leadership positions in organisations focused on expanding energy access in sub-Saharan Africa.
Earlier in June, the United States International Development Finance Corporation Board of Directors named her among the first members of the agency’s inaugural Development Advisory Council.
In addition, Mrs Ogunbiyi is one of the Commissioners for the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty, an initiative driven by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and The Rockefeller Foundation.
