Rilwanu Lukman

Nigerian engineer (1938–2014)

Rilwanu Lukman (26 August 1938 – 21 July 2014) was a Nigerian engineer who held several ministerial positions in the Nigerian Federal government before becoming Secretary General of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2000. He died on 21 July 2014. On 18 December 2008, Lukman was appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources by Nigerian president Umaru Yar'Adua, holding office until March 2010.

Lukman was born in Zaria, Kaduna State. He trained as a mining engineer at the College of Arts, Science, and Technology, Zaria (now Ahmadu Bello University), and then at Imperial College, London. He earned a higher degree in mining engineering from the University of Mining and Metallurgy in Leoben, Austria (1967–1968). He obtained a degree in Mineral Economics from McGill University, Montreal in 1978, and an honorary doctorate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Bologna in Italy. By 1979 Lukman had become general manager and chief executive officer of the Nigerian Mining Corporation, Jos.

Lukman was appointed Minister of Mines, Power and Steel from 1984 to 1985 in the government of General Muhammadu Buhari. He was Chairman of the board of directors of the National Electric Power Authority (1993–1994). From 1986 he served eight consecutive terms as OPEC president. Lukman resigned in November 2003. The resignation was said to be due to a dispute over oil sector reform with the group managing director of the NNPC. Jackson Gaius Obaseki. The friction had apparently been building up after Lukman completed his term as OPEC president in early 2002, and after Obasanjo moved control and administration of oil blocks from the Petroleum Resources ministry to the NNPC in June 2002. He then became the Chairman of Afren Nigeria when it was established in May 2005. He is also a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and served on the SPE board as regional Director for Africa. In 2007, Lukman became a member of the Supervisory Board of Dietsmann NV of the Netherlands, a leading International Operation & Maintenance company in the upstream energy sector. Lukman was appointed Honorary (unpaid) Advisor on Energy and Strategic Matters to President Umaru Yar'Adua in August 2007. In December 2008 Lukman was appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources, and resigned from his position with Afren, putting his holdings in a blind trust. In March 2010, he warned that the scarcity of petroleum products in Nigeria would only get worse as long as the government held back on deregulating the industry. He left office on 17 March 2010 when Acting President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved his cabinet.

Lukman was accused of facilitating the P&ID corrupt contract, which almost cost Nigeria an economic crumbling $11bn arbitral award, by ordering his aide, Taofiq Tijani, to “deliberately overlook” P&ID’s shortcomings and push the deal through. The EFCC accused Lukman of breaking Nigerian laws by approving a deal that he lacked authority to approve and engaged in not doing due diligence on the company, which lacked legally required approvals from Nigerian government's relevant procurement agencies. Others who have been linked to corruption regarding this fraudulent contract are Taofiq Tijani, Grace Taiga and Olasupo Shasore.

Lukman was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1989 and Officer of the Légion d'honneur of France in 1990, as well as being conferred with the First Class rank of the Order of the Liberator from Venezuela. He was the first African to be honoured with the Fellowship of the Imperial College, University of London.