DESPITE SEVERAL MOVES TO DEFEND HIS ACTION, CRITICISMS TRAIL AVIATION MINISTER’S LAST MINUTE APPOINTMENTS

inaugurate the board of directors in the agencies. He further said that was where the problem started from.

According to Ohunayo, “Unfortunately, he first moved aviation out of the Ministry of Transportation and became a stand-alone ministry. That gave him power to bypass and not inaugurate the board of directors for each of the agencies. He has expanded the directorates to feed his friends, family and cronies and all appointments and employments that have been done under this man must be reviewed. Most importantly, employment has been screwed towards a particular region and that must be addressed. You cannot allow this to continue because such actions will kill the industry. Look at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), where we fought for this re-certification process that is going on. All this was done before the minister came to office, but he went to the critical departments and made professional officers to resign. NCAA officials are grumbling because of his interference and employment policy. Nigeria Safety Investigative Bureau (NSIB) should not be under the Ministry of Aviation, and who knows what he has done there now?”

Reacting to these appointments, the industry think-tank, Aviation Round Table also denounced the last-minute appointments made by Sirika.

“The ART equally frowns at any decision of the minister to appoint a new Director General, Managing Directors or Directors with barely 10 days to the eve of the new administration, thereby foreclosing the opportunity for new presidential appointees that will be more suited to the agenda of the incoming administration. The ART is of the view that a more appropriate action would have been to nominate a new candidate for appointment by the incoming minister and there is nothing wrong in extending for a further 30 days, the term of the existing managing director and directors on a transitional basis, to enable the new administration pick the men/women to drive their agenda.

“Aviation is such that once the airplanes lose the officers in the left seat, the officers in the right seat cannot simply take over without the required experience and authorisation. The ART calls the attention of the current minister to ensure the full and faithful implementation of Section 16 of the NCAA Act for the establishment of Directorates and Inspectorates as opposed to the changes he has made in consolidating and placing too many departments under too few personnel and to further comply in particular with Section 16-10,” the body said.