Buhari sacks Giadom after 14 months, appoints Zabbey as HYPREP coordinator

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday approved the appointment of Professor Nenibarini Zabbey as the Project Coordinator of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), and terminated the appointment of Dr Giadom Dumbari for the post.

Giadom was appointed by the President in March 2022 for a four-year tenure. His sack comes barely 14 months after.

A statement by the Federal Ministry of Environment, signed by Media Aid to the Minister, Olusegun Shogbola, reads, “His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR has approved the termination of the appointment of Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project Project Coordinator Dr Ferdinand Giadom, to be replaced with Prof Nenibarini Zabbey as the new Project Coordinator of HYPREP with immediate effect.

“Prof Nenibarini Zabbey is a foremost and renowned Ogoni expert on hydrobiology and has extensive experience and background on remediation-related activities with bias in bio-monitoring and restoration ecology.

“Until his appointment, he was a Senior lecturer at the Department of Fisheries Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt. He is the first African recipient of the Association of the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography 2022 Ruth Patrick Award for research and engagement with a critical impact on the recovery of the Niger Delta ecosystem from oil spills and environmental justice for affected communities.”

Zabbey, before his appointment, has offered community services which include environmental consultancy and working with civil society and nongovernmental organizations to conserve and restore biodiversity.

He coordinates the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), and I has worked as a hydrobiology and fisheries consultant on many environmental and post-impact assessment studies and have carried out national and international technical assignments.

Zabbey is the current UNEP Senior National Expert on Mangrove Ecosystems (consultancy), and also serves on the management committee, the shoreline cleanup assessment technique team (SCAT), and technical working groups of the Bodo cleanup and restoration project, facilitated by the Bodo Mediation Initiative. He has conducted research focusing on biological monitoring, ecosystem services, plastic pollution, carbon stocks in mangroves, community science, and the restoration of degraded wetlands.