President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has on Monday, sworn in Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe as the new Minister of Power and Amb. Sola Enikanolaiye as the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
Tegbe and Enikanolaiye were sworn-in by the President after the Senate’s approval of their appointment.
Recall that Tinubu had appointed Tegbe to replace the former Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who resigned to pursue his Oyo governorship ambition.
On the hand, the President appointed Enikanolaiye to fill the void left by Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu who elevated to the position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs following the resignation of Amb. Yusuf Tuggar.
Tegbe and Enikanolaiye’s were sworn-in in a short event that took place at the Presidential Villa in the presence of the ministers’ spouses and senior government officials.
This was made known in a statement issued on the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
As profiled in the statement, the new Minister of Power, Tegbe, was born in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He is a renowned fiscal, economic and institutional reform strategist and stakeholder engagement expert with over 35 years of professional experience across the public and private sectors.
He holds a First Class Degree in Civil Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, a Master’s degree in Business Administration (Switzerland) and a Master’s degree in Public Administration (Birmingham).
Prior to his appointment, Tegbe worked as a Senior Partner and Head of Advisory Services at KPMG in Africa, where he led transformational initiatives, including the design and implementation of major presidential reforms, the articulation and implementation of a strategy for subnational governments.
He was also involved in fiscal policy restructuring at all levels of Government. He has worked with organisations such as the Nigerian Communications Commission, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Nigeria Revenue Service, Shell, Huawei, General Electric, MTN, and Odu’a Group, among others.
On the other hand, Amb. Sola Enikanolaiye from Igbagun, Kogi State, holds a First Class Degree in Political Science from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and won the Dean’s Prize as the best student in his faculty.
He also obtained a Master’s Degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos with Distinction.
Enikanolaiye joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in August 1982 and rose to the position of Director. He was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Ministry in 2016, from which he retired on 4th August 2017 after 35 years in service.
As a career diplomat, he served in many of Nigeria’s diplomatic missions, notably Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Belgrade (Serbia), Ottawa (Canada) and London (UK). His last foreign service posting was as Nigeria’s Head of Mission in New Delhi (India).
He is a recipient of several merit awards, including the Presidential Civil Service Merit Award, the Presidential Distinguished Public Service Career Award, and a Distinguished Fellow of the National Defence College, among others.
Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye was, until his appointment, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu, on Foreign Affairs and International Relations in the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.