The newly elected representative of the Civil Society Organisations (CSO) on the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG) of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Mina Ogbanga, has received from President Muhammadu Buhari the official confirmation of her appointment into the NEITI Board.
The confirmation letter signed by the President was formally presented to Ms Ogbanga by a senior official in the Presidency on behalf of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on Tuesday in Abuja.
The presentation was witnessed by some top management officials from the NEITI Secretariat led by the Executive Secretary, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji,and the Deputy Director, Communication & Stakeholders Management, OBIAGELI Onuoarah.
The new CSO representative announced the cherry development in an email she sent to all members of the civil society constituency in the extractive industry to thank them and express her appreciation for the support she received during and after the elections.
“It is with unreserved humility that I just received my confirmation as the CSO Representative on the NEITI Board as well as a member of the National Stakeholders Working Group,” she announced in the mail
“This was contained in a letter signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation which reads: “I am pleased to inform you that Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has approved your appointment as member of the National Stakeholders Working Group of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative for an initial 4 years with effect from 17th January, 2023,” Ogbanga added.
In her reaction to the appointment, Ogbanga in a post through her timeline on LinkedIn, described the appointment as a huge plus for the civic space, and one she would not like to take lightly.
“I thank all the team at NEITI CSO Steering Committee and so many others who cumulatively made this work. It’s time to rebrand the space,” she said.
The emergence of Ogbanga followed a keenly contested Electoral process held on March 8, 2023 in Abuja.
Mina Margaret Ogbanga is an Associate Professor and Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Development Support Initiatives (CEDSI) based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
A one-time member of the NEITI Civil Society Steering committee,
the new CSO representative is described by some of her colleagues in the extractive industry as “an outstanding intellectual, renown environmentalist and woman leader, grassroots mobiliser, a gender and social inclusion expert and advocate.”
An Associate Professor with over 23 years of demonstrated experience in the oil and gas sector, specifically the extractive sector, Ogbanga has been committed to supporting community rights, stakeholder engagement and social performance in the extractive industry.
She is a graduate of several National and International Universities where she graduated Summa Cum Laude, namely Harvard University, Executive Program, United States, Cambridge University, United Kingdom in cross sector partnership (now Sustainability Studies), University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, majorly in the areas of sustainable development studies.
