Unending confusion

Editorial

One disturbing characteristic of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is its penchant for exhibiting what can only be described as unhealthy politics, distracting power play and outright confusion among some ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in the appointment, removal, or retention of heads of critical government agencies.

Another confirmation of this tendency is the ongoing drama over the tenure of the Managing Director of the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Dr. Marilyn Amobi.

The Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, had in December 2019, directed Amobi to step down over several complaints against her, including refusing to comply with decisions of superior officers.

However, the NBET boss was reinstated through a memo from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha. And this was despite the Minister of Power having set up a five-man committee to investigate the several allegations against her. Following her reinstatement, the agency was transferred to the Federal Ministry of Finance.

In another twist to the confounding affair, the Chief of Staff (COS) to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, in a letter to the Minister of Power confirmed presidential approval for the immediate disengagement of Amobi as well as the approval of Dr Naemeka Ewelukwa, NBET’s general counsel and secretary, to take over as the substantive managing director.

But this was not the end of the rigmarole. Apparently based on the COS’s communication, Mamman reiterated his earlier directive that the NBET MD proceed on terminal leave and hand over immediately to Ewelukwa.

However, another statement from the Federal Ministry of Finance asserted that Amobi would remain in office until her tenure elapses on July 24, 2020, after which she would hand over to her designated successor.

Although the Minister of Finance is statutorily Chairman of the NBET board, this kind of unproductive back and forth gives the impression of unnecessary power tussle among the various top officials, with little consideration for the image of the government of which they are a part.

It shows that the necessary cohesion and cooperation needed for government to function with maximal efficiency and effectiveness is lacking.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time this kind of conflicting signals is occurring. In 2018, President Buhari ordered the reinstatement of the erstwhile Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf, who had been suspended from office by the then Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole.

Yusuf, who had faced allegations of gross misconduct, nepotism and mismanagement of funds, openly snubbed the minister, insisting that he had no power to take disciplinary action against him.

It was only 10 months after that the President approved Yusuf’s removal from office. But surely, the damage to discipline had been done.

Another case in point is the ongoing cold war between the leadership of the National Assembly and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godswill Akpabio.

The President had sent a 15-man list of the newly constituted Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for the approval of the Senate.

After the board membership had been approved by the Senate, Akpabio obtained presidential approval to constitute an Interim Management Committee (IMC), purportedly to oversee a forensic audit of the operations of the agency from 2001 to 2019.

Thereafter, the Presidency wrote the Senate withdrawing the names of the board members, saying a new board would be constituted after the forensic audit.

All these indicate a lack of thoroughness and diligence in the conduct of government business at the highest levels and subject the administration to needless ridicule.

It is instructive that in the case of the NBET, the allegations against the MD have been left unaddressed as the requisite officials engage in unnecessary politics and influence peddling.