Buhari Sacks 26 Jonathan Appointees
After budget fiasco, appoints new DG Budget, Akabueze SA, National Planning Dabiri-Erewa is new presidential aide, Foreign Affairs
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday approved the immediate disengagement of 26 chief executives of federal government agencies and commissions whom he inherited from his predecessor, former President Goodluck Jonathan, confirming THISDAY’s exclusive report that at least 35 of them will be relieved of their posts this week.
He also directed that the most senior officers in the affected parastatals should oversee the organisations pending the appointment of substantive heads of the agencies.
The disengagement was confirmed in a statement by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir Lawal.
The affected persons were the Directors-General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Mr. Sola Omole; Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Mr. Ladan Salihu; Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Sam Worlu; National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr. Emeka Mba; National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omieri; and Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr. Ima Niboro.
Others included the DGs of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control ( NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii; Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mr. Emeka Eze; Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Dikki; Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Mr. Ahmed Farouk; Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr. Joseph Odumodu; and the Managing Director of Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa.
Also affected were the chief executives of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Mr. Umar Munir Abubakar; Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Denzil Amagbe Kentebe; Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria ( FMBN), Mr. Gimba Ya’u Kumo; Nigeria Railways Corporation (NRC), Mr. Adeseyi Sijuwade; and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Peter Jack, who was recently suspended by the Minister of Communications Technology.
In addition, the heads of the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), Ms. Onyeka Onwenu; Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Mrs. Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko; National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic In Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Mrs. Beatrice Jeddy Egba; Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF); New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD); Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund); Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF); Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC); and Nigerian Export-Import Bank were relieved of their posts.
According to the statement, Buhari thanked them for their invaluable services to the nation and wished them well in their future endeavours.
THISDAY exclusively reported yesterday that members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had been mounting pressure on the president to remove the heads appointed by the Jonathan administration, irrespective of the nonexpiration of their tenures and what their establishment Acts stipulate for their removal.
For instance, Section 7 of the Public Procurement Act of 2007 that established the BPP, states that “the Director-General shall hold office: (a) for a term of 4 years in the first instance and may be re-appointed for a further term of 4 years and no more; and (b) on such terms and conditions as may be specified in his letter of appointment”.
While subsection 4, states: “Without prejudice to the provisions of this Act, the Director-General of the Bureau may be removed from office at the instance of the President on the basis of gross misconduct of financial impropriety, fraud, and manifested incompetence proven by the Council.”
Similarly, the Act establishing the NTA and FRCN stipulates that “if it appears to the Minister that a member of the Authority/ Corporation should be removed from office on the grounds of misconduct or inability to perform the functions of his office, the Minister shall after consultation with the interests, if any, represented by that member make a recommendation to that effect to the President, and if the President approves the recommendation, the Minister may declare, in writing, the office of that member vacant”.
Just as the sacking was made public, Buhari also approved the appointment of Mr. Tijjani Mohammed Abdullahi as the new Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation.
A statement issued by his media aide, Mr Femi Adesina, said Mr. Abdullahi, a fellow of the Certified National Accountants of Nigeria, and a banker of repute with experience in managing public finance, replaced the current Director-General (Budget), Mr. Yahaya Gusau.
The statement said: “The new Director-General (Budget) is expected to work with the Minister of Budget and National Planning to efficiently deliver on the mandates of the Budget Office of the Federation.”
Buhari has also approved the appointment of Mr. Ben Ifeanyi Akabueze as his Special Adviser, National Planning.
Akabueze, who is the immediate past Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos State, has worked in senior management positions in Citi Bank, Fidelity Bank, United Bank for Africa, NAL Merchant Bank, Sterling Bank and BIA Consulting Limited, among others.
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers; Fellow, Institute of Credit Administrators, and Honorary Fellow, Chartered Institute of Bankers.
Abdullahi and Akabueze’s appointments followed the fiasco that has trailed the 2016 budget since its presentation to the National Assembly by Buhari last December.
The 2016 budget has been variously declared “missing” and “error-ridden” by the National Assembly, causing immense embarrassment to the administration.
In addition to Abdullahi and Akabueze’s appointments, Buhari also named Hon. Abike DabiriErewa as his Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora.
Her appointment takes immediate effect.
Dabiri-Erewa was sighted at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday when she came for her appointment letter after which she completed her documentation.