FG Appoints Ladan As Director Of DPR

The Federal Government has appointed Mr. Mordecai Danteni Baba Ladan, as the Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to take over from Mr. George Osahon whose tenure elapsed June 19, 2015.

According to a statement on the website of the DPR, Monday, the memorandum dated June 19, 2015 stated that the appointment was with immediate effect.

Ladan, according to the statement, is a Petrochemist by profession, who joined DPR on November 23, 1987 as a Senior Analytical Chemist and was deployed to the Safety & Environment Branch under the then Technical Services Division. The company noted that Ladan rose through the ranks to occupy various key positions within the organization, including Zonal Operations Controller, DPR Kaduna.

The DPR said: “Having attained the rank of Deputy Director, he was appointed Head, Downstream Monitoring & Regulation Division October 2005 – June 2013. Thereafter, he was appointed Head, Gas Monitoring & Regulation Division June 2013 – May 2014. And then Head, Safety, Health & Environment Division May 2014 until his recent appointment.”

“Mr. Ladan is highly accomplished both professionally and academically; he is Fulbright Scholar (Hubert H. Humphrey, North-South Fellow) where he bagged a Certificate in Environmental & Regulatory Policy / Public Affairs June 1991. M.Sc. Petrochemicals & Hydrocarbon Chemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology, United Kingdom March 1986.”Osahon, the immediate past Director of the DPR was appointed June 19, 2013, for a two-year renewable tenure, making him the first Director in DPR to be appointed on such terms. Prior to his exit from office, Osahon had handed over to Ladan, who was the most senior executive of the DPR.

It was reported that Osahon had, few days to the end of his tenure, turned in a letter giving notice of the expiry of his tenure.

Osahon’s appointment to the DPR was trailed with controversy, especially as he had been in and out of the government for decades. He was retired twice while working in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.