Meet Sarki Auwalu, new DPR Director 

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Sarki Auwalu as a substantive Director for the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

In a statement signed by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Auwalu, who has been a driving force of the DPR, joined the agency in 1998 as Principal Chemical Engineer would serve as the director of the agency for an initial term of four years.

What you need to know about Auwalu: The DPR Director is a chemical engineer. He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and had his post-graduate studies at Bayero University, Kano, and PETRAD Norway, PetroSkill USA, among other institutions.

He is also an Associate Member, Institute of Chemical Engineers, UK; Member, Society of Petroleum Engineers; Member, Nigerian Society of Engineers, and Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN).

[READ MORE: UPDATED: President Buhari appoints CBN Deputy Gov as AMCON chairman)

Tasks waiting for Auwalu: Nigeria is in the season of yuletide. This period is notoriously known for scarcity of fuel. December and January have often been a headache for Nigerians because motorists and individuals usually queue to buy fuel at petrol stations.

Auwalu will have to ensure Nigeria navigates this yuletide season without the burden of scarcity of petrol or price hike. In the last week of August 2019, fear of scarcity of fuel surfaced when petroleum marketers failed to load at depots for days into the weekend.

President Buhari has been busy reshuffling the leadership of federal agencies. The President recently announced the replacement of Babatunde Fowler as the Chairman of the board of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

He named Muhammad Nami as Fowler’s replacement. He also named Edward Adamu as the new Chairman of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), replacing Muiz Banire.