Joseph Thalama Dawha, a former group managing director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is dead.

Dawha who was appointed to replace Andrew Yakubu as NNPC GMD by Goodluck Jonathan in 2014, died after a brief illness.

Mele Kyari, NNPC GMD who confirmed his death in a statement released on Monday August 3, said;

“[The] NNPC family gravely mourns the death of the former GMD, who he noted, provided astute leadership and made immense contributions to the progress of the corporation.“

Before being appointed as NNPC’s GMD, Dawha served as the group executive director, exploration and production of the corporation. He was also the director of commercial services for Eleme Petrochemical Company Limited (now Indorama) Port Harcourt in 2003. In 2005 he was appointed managing director of Integrated Data Services Limited, Benin.