By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Senate has confirmed the appointment of Barrister Michael Ohiani as the Director General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
Ohiani’s confirmation followed his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari in a letter to the Senate, and his subsequent screening by the Committee on Works in the upper legislative chamber.
Buhari’s letter read in part: “In accordance with the provision of Section 2] (1)(a) of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Act, 2005, 1 am pleased to forward for confirmation by the Senate, the appointment of Joe Aniku Michael Ohiani as Substantive Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission.”
Until his appointment, Mr Ohiani was the Acting Director General of the ICRC, a position he filled following the sad demise of his predecessor, Chidi Izuwah in March 2021.
As Acting DG, he also directly oversaw the PPP Resource Department where he is responsible for catalyzing Public and Private expertise and resources towards the structuring and development of Federal PPP Projects that are bankable and yield value-for-money for Nigerians.
Under his watch as Acting DG, Ohiani superintended over the issuance of several Outline Business Cases (OBCs) and Full Business Cases (FBCs) for concession projects, some of which have received the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for commencement.
Some of the projects which Ohiani oversaw as the acting helmsman of the ICRC include: the Nigerian Air project, the Onitsha River Port, Lagos Ibadan Rail e-Ticketing Concession, Device Management System, Revenue Assurance Solution (RAS) and a floating Dock for NIMASA.
He holds two degrees in Law which he obtained from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Edo State University Ekpoma, respectively.
From 2015 to June 2016, he was the Director of the Contract Compliance Department (CCD). Prior to his position at the CCD, Ohiani headed the Legal and Governance Unit of the Commission between 2008 and 2015. Ohiani has over twenty-three years post-graduate experience.
Until he joined ICRC, he was the Team Leader, Executive Unit at the Debt Management Office where he had various responsibilities including participation in bilateral negotiations and managing the projects for DFID support programmes.
