By Felix Khanoba
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Prof. Godswill Obioma as the new Registrar/Chief Executive of the National Examination Council (NECO).
Prof. Obioma, until the new appointment, was the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Ebonyi State.
The appointment comes on the heels of this week’s removal from office of Prof. Charles Uwakwe over alleged breach of Public Procurement Act. Both Uwakwe and Obioma hail from the South-east part of the country.
A statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Friday by NECO, said Prof. Obioma’s appointment was conveyed in a letter dated 15 May, 2020 and signed by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu.
The statement signed by the spokesman of NECO, Mr Azeez Sani, said Prof. Obioma’s appointment, which is for an initial tenure of five years, takes effect from 14 May, 2020, adding that the Registrar has fully assumed duties.
“The Registrar on Friday, 22nd May, 2020 formally took over the affairs of the Council from the former Acting Registrar, Mallam Abubakar Gana at the Council’s Headquarters in Minna,” the statement said.
Giving a brief profile of the new NECO boss, who was born 12 December 1953, the statement said Prof. Obioma is a professor of Education Measurement and Evaluation and hails from Bende Local Government Area of Abia State.
“He was a former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council.
“Prof. Obioma has held other key positions in the education sector, among which are: Director, Monitoring, Research and Statistics, National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB); Director Monitoring and Evaluation Universal Basic Education Programme; Director Monitoring and Evaluation National Primary Education Commission and Head, Department of Science, Mathematics and Technology, University of Jos.
“Until his appointment as Registrar/CE of NECO, Prof. Obioma was the Ebonyi State Resident Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“An erudite scholar, Prof. Obioma has many scholarly publications to his credit. He is married and blessed with children,” the statement added.
