President Appoints Alake, Ribadu, Others As Special Advisers

President Bola Tinubu has appointed former Lagos State commissioner of information, Dele Alake, the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu and six others as special advisers.

Born on October 6, 1956, Aleke was a former commissioner for information and strategy in Lagos State between 1999-2007 under the then governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu.

He was also the communication advisor and confidant of the late Moshood  Abiola, the winner of the annulled June 12 presidential election in Nigeria in 1993.

In December 2014, he was appointed as the director of media and communication of the Buhari Campaign Organisation.

Ribadu was born on November 21, 1960 and was the pioneer executive chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and EFCC between 2003 and 2007.

He was also the presidential candidate for the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 general election.

He was the chairman of the Petroleum Revenue Task Force and in April 2009, he became a visiting fellow at the Centre for Global Development.

Other appointments include Wale Edun, who was appointed special adviser, monetary policies and Salma Ibrahim Anas was appointed special adviser on health.

Edun hails from the western region of Nigeria. He served as the commissioner for finance in Lagos State from 1999 to 2007. Additionally, Wale Edun holds the position of chairman at Live-well Initiative, an NGO, and is the founder of Denham Management Limited. He is also a Trustee of Sister United for Children, an NGO focused on meeting the needs of children.

Also, Yau Darazo was named special adviser, political and intergovernmental affairs, while Olu Verheijen has been named as special adviser on energy.

Tinubu also appointed John Ugochukwu Uwajumogu as special adviser on industry, trade and investment, while Zachaeus Adedeji was named as special adviser on revenue.

Ms. Olubukola Arowolo Verheijen is the managing director at Latimer Energy and an energy expert with nearly two decades of experience in transactional, project development, investment, and policy aspects of the energy and infrastructure sectors. Currently, she also serves as an Advisory Council Member of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation and holds the position of Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Energy for Growth Hub. Furthermore, she is the Founder of BFA Foundation, an organization that provides scholarships to women and other disadvantaged groups, enabling them to pursue career advancement opportunities, particularly in high-growth sectors like energy. Her previous roles include serving as a Deal Lead and member of the governing Board of an upstream joint venture at Shell, as well as being a partner and investment committee chair at an early-stage investment firm with a pan-African portfolio of distributed renewables companies.

Zacch Adelabu Adedeji served as the former commissioner for finance in Oyo State from 2011 to 2015. He is an astute accountant, corporate tax expert, and public finance development specialist with over 15 years of experience in corporate accounting, public service administration, and advisory within the public sector.

Dr. Salma has over 25 years of experience in Health Sector Development. Her expertise spans health sector policy formulation, strategic development, resource mobilization, and implementation of various health programs at international, regional, and national levels. She possesses technical skills and knowledge in Health Systems Strengthening, with a particular focus on Primary Healthcare and Health System Strengthening. Dr. Salma has a passion for improving access to quality Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent, and Elderly Health plus Nutrition (RMNCAEH+N) services, including Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Gender-Based Violence. She has extensive experience in both

the public and private sectors. Currently, Dr. Salma holds the position of Director of Family Health Services at the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), where she leads key divisions including Reproductive Health, Child Health and Gender, Adolescent, School Health and Elderly Care (GASHE), Nutrition, and Health Promotion. Prior to her current role, she served as the Director/Head of Special Projects & National Coordinator for Health Sector Humanitarian Crisis Response at the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria.