President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Honourable Doris Olayemi Uboh, a professional engineer, as the new Executive Director of the Rural Electrification Fund (REF), which is part of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). This means she will be responsible for leading efforts to provide electricity to villages and rural areas in Nigeria.
Her appointment will officially start on January 23, 2025, and she will serve in this role for four years.
Before this appointment, Doris Uboh had already been doing the job temporarily since March 2024, but now she has been officially confirmed to continue in the role full-time.
Who is Doris Uboh?
- Education & Career: Doris Uboh is an electrical engineer who studied in New York, USA. She has more than 30 years of experience working in the power and electricity sector, both in Nigeria and other countries.
- She was the Managing Director of DAGASTEEL INTERNATIONAL LTD from 1995 to 2007 and again from 2011 to 2014.
- From 2011 to 2018, she served as the Executive Director (Technical) at DANIEL POWER LIMITED, where she helped manage technical projects related to electricity.
- Between 2018 and 2024, she worked as a Technical Consultant for LAGA CE POWER LIMITED, giving expert advice on power-related projects.
Her Time in Government:
Doris Uboh was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011, representing the Ika Federal Constituency in Delta State. While she was there, she did a lot of important work:
- She sponsored the Minimum Wage Bill, which was combined with a similar bill from the government and later signed into law by then-President Goodluck Jonathan. This law helped improve the salaries of workers in Nigeria.
- She also worked on the Petroleum Pipeline Vandalization Bill, which aimed to reduce the illegal breaking of oil pipelines.
- Additionally, she helped create the Petroleum Industry Bill, which focused on improving the oil industry, and the Child Rights Bill, which protects the rights of children in Nigeria.
Leadership Roles in the House of Representatives:
- Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Product and Marketing Company
- Member of several important committees, including:
- Petroleum Downstream Committee
- Public Procurement Committee
- Police Affairs Committee
- Marine Transport Committee
What’s Next for Doris Uboh?
Now as the official Executive Director of the Rural Electrification Fund, Doris Uboh is ready to work with the leadership of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to achieve their goal of providing electricity to rural communities across Nigeria.
She is committed to supporting President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which is a plan to improve the lives of Nigerians by creating more opportunities, providing better services, and ensuring that even people living in remote areas have access to basic needs like electricity.
