Engr. Clement Adeyinka Oke, a Mechanical and Gas Engineer/Manager, a past Acting Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power, was born in Jos on 24^th November 1950. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in June 1973 and obtained a Master’s degree in Gas Engineering and Management from the University of Salford, UK in June 1991.

After National Youth Service in 1974, he commenced his career with NEPA in the design, construction, training, operation and maintenance of power plants. He supervised the completion/start-up of Sapele Power Plant where he became the first Efficiency Engineer and to displace the expatriate Engineer he understudied. During the construction, he identified flaws/errors in construction and operations and recommended changes. On leaving in mid-1981, he worked for SPDC as Construction Engineer.

By late 1981, Engr. Oke joined the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as Project Manager on Petroleum Products Pipeline and Depot projects and on the Escravos Lagos Gas Pipeline (ELP) project where he saved Nigeria over 20 million pounds. He managed the most technically sophisticated element of the ELP network where he had the responsibility of the “Engineer”. He headed the Business Development and Maintenance units of the Nigerian Gas Company where he pioneered the conversion of vehicles to run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), also designed and fabricated components that were not available from scrap materials.

Between 1998 and 1999, he led the Feasibility Study for the first Public/Private sector International Gas Pipeline venture, West African Gas Pipeline Project, across four developing countries (Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo) and was subsequently appointed as Engineering and Construction Manager from 2000 to 2004. From 2005 to May 2006, he was General Manager Operations for a new West African Gas Pipeline Company to start up and manage the International pipeline company in Ghana.

He returned to NNPC in 2006 to monitor the implementation of Independent Power Plants that NNPC was involved in and was seconded as Senior Technical Assistant to Minister of Energy in 2007. He became Project Director for the proposed Trans Saharan Gas Pipeline Project and Project Coordinator for the Olokola Pipeline Project (OKPL) in addition to monitoring NNPC interests in IPPs and gas supply projects.

He represented NNPC in 2008 Presidential Power Reform Committee and coordinated the National Domestic Gas supply technical teams with representatives from the oil and gas industry. He retired from NNPC as Group General Manager in 2010 and as Acting Chairman, Presidential Task Force in March 2016. He received NGC Managing Director’s Award on WAGP and GMD’s Awards for best citation/overall candidate in Chief Officers Management Course.

Engr. Clement Adeyinka Oke is married to Dr (Mrs) Yetunde Adenike Oke and has a daughter Iyanuoluwa. He is COREN Registered, a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Chartered Engineer (UK) and Fellow of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK), The Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers (UK) and the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

SPECIALIZATIONS

• Power System, Energy & Environmental Engineering