President Bola Tinubu has appointed Kayode Opeifa as the substantive managing director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC).
A source in the presidency and Mahmood Yakub, deputy director of public relations at the NRC, confirmed the appointment on Wednesday.
However, the presidency is yet to release an official statement regarding the latest appointment.
Opeifa’s appointment comes three months after Ben Iloanusi was announced as acting managing director (MD) following the end of Fidet Okhiri’s tenure.
The new NRC MD was a former commissioner for transportation in Lagos under the administration of Babatunde Fashola, who governed the state from 2007 to 2015.
Opeifa joined the NRC in 2019 when former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him as a board member.
Also, the ex-president reportedly appointed the transport expert as the managing director of the Abuja Urban Mass Transit Company Limited (AUMTCO) in 2023.
Opeifa, who also served as the transport secretary of the federal capital territory (FCT), was appointed the vice-chairman of the presidential task team (PTT) by former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
The PTT was set up to address traffic congestion in Apapa and was chaired by Osinbajo.
On January 20, Tinubu approved the appointment of Zahrah Audu as the new director-general (DG) of the presidential enabling business environment council (PEBEC).
NewsClick Nigeria reports that Opeifa joins the long list of former commissioners in Lagos state in President Tinubu’s administration. Others earlier appointed include Wale Edun (Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister of the economy), Olayemi Cardoso (Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN), Tunji Bello (DG, FCCPC) and a host of others.