Heineken Lokpobiri: Bringing Impressive Record Of Accomplishments To Petroleum Resources Ministry

The appointment of Dr Heineken Lokpobiri as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources by President Bola Tinubu did not come as a surprise to many. Lokpobiri’s rise in the political arena is predictable following lofty achievements as an accomplished lawyer cum politician. He is an erudite manager of human and material resources and his nomination has doused the anxiety over who would be favoured from Bayelsa State, to be among President Tinubu’s ministers after months of speculations.

Lokpobiri has an impressive record of accomplishments that span various sectors, making him a valuable asset to Tinubu’s administration. With a rich background in law from Rivers State University of Science and Technology in 1994 and a PhD in Environmental Rights and Environmental Law from Leeds Beckett University, UK, in 2015, the former Senator brings unalloyed multidisciplinary expertise to the table, positioning him as an exceptional candidate for a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Given his extensive exposure, Lokpobiri ticks the box as all round technocrat that will rightly fit to be a minister in a portfolio of critical importance of the economy.

Lokpobiri was born on March 3, 1967, and he served as a Senator for the Bayelsa West constituency from April 2007 on the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) platform.

Lokpobiri served as a member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2003, during which he held the position of Speaker from June 1999 to May 2001.

In his first senate term, Lokpobiri was actively involved in various committees, including Sports, Public Accounts, Police Affairs, Niger Delta, and Millennium Development Goals. He chaired the Senate Sports Committee and sponsored the National Agency for Elderly Persons bill.

During his second senate term, he ran for re-election as Bayelsa West Senator in the April 2011 elections but faced challenges due to irregularities. Despite the controversies, he took his seat in the Senate and served as chairman of the Committee on Water Resources and a member of the Committee on Solid Minerals.

In 2015, Lokpobiri switched from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and was later appointed as the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Lokpobiri was chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Transport.

In June 2009, after further sabotage of oil facilities by militants in the Niger Delta, he praised the Federal Government’s amnesty, saying “With the current amnesty deal, I believe that both parties will go home satisfactory and the contractors will henceforth work in more stable environment and that will accelerate the pace of road construction in the region.”

In July 2009, the Senate passed the National Agency for Elderly Persons bill. The bill which was sponsored by Lokpobiri gave legal support, welfare and recreational facilities to elderly people in the country.

In September 2009, the authorities of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) announced approval of new land charges in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

Senator Lokpobiri initiated a stormy debate when he accused the authorities of acting illegally by failing to first secure the approval of the National Council of States.

He ran for reelection as Bayelsa West Senator in the April 2011 elections, on the PDP platform, and was initially declared the winner.

Lokpobiri took his seat in the Senate on 29 May 2011 and was appointed chairman of the committee on Water Resources and a member of the committee on Solid Minerals.

In March 2012, Lokpobiri introduced controversial legislation that would make it harder for labor unions to call a strike.

Lokpobiri said, “This helps to achieve an affirmative consensus on union members through the instrumentality of ballot. Fairness, transparency and accountability are also given pride of place in the scheme of things.”

In 2015, he decamped from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

He was later appointed by the Buhari led APC as a minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development.