Furore Over Last-Minute Changes At BPE, VON

Namadi Sambo, Nigeria Vice President

Last-minute appointments at some federal government agencies are creating a stir following what insiders describe as “suspicious” decisions.

Two of the agencies affected, according to findings by TheCable, are the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), which is under presidency, and the Voice of Nigeria (VON), supervised by the Ministry Of Information.

Recently, the National Council on Privatization (NCP), chaired by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, met and confirmed six acting directors as directors and appointed two new ones in circumstances that are now raising rust over geopolitical balancing and equity.

TheCable report continues:

Meanwhile, the appointment of Sampson Worlu as director-general of VON has continued to generate bad blood within the organization as two unions have now petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan over his qualification for the job.

The confirmation of six BPE directors initially meant as from May 1, there would be no directors from the south-west and south-east in the management — a violation of the federal character principle in public appointments.

However, one of the appointments was reviewed on Friday, but that still leaves the south-west with no director.

“We don’t know if it is an oversight,” an insider, who is not authorized to speak, “but tongues are wagging seriously at the way and manner the appointments were discussed and concluded within a few hours.”

At first, a deputy director from the south-east, Chigbo Anichebe, was promoted to fill a position to be vacated by Fati Abubakar (north-east) who will be retiring at the age of 60 in October.

If this had stood, the south-east would have been without a slot until she retires.

Anichebe was originally in line to take over from Kashim Ibrahim, also from the north-east, who will retire April ending after serving as director for eight years.

Curiously, the NCP, which the BPE serves as its secretariat, opted to elevate Aliyu Maigari, from the north-east, to fill Ibrahim’s position.

But this has not been corrected, sources told TheCable, and Anichebe will be taking over from Ibrahim while Maigari — who has allegedly been promised the director-general position by an APC chieftain — will now wait till October to fill Abubakar’s slot.

However, the south-west is completely out of the picture as there is no single director from the geo-political zone.

The most senior person from the south-west, Olatunde Ikuerowo, had been deputy director since June 2007.

Other senior officers from the south-west who were overlooked by the NCP include Matilda Omojola, Rasaq Adedugba, Ahmed Abdulkadir, Omosebi Adedayo and Balogun Olayinka who all became deputy directors in 2010.

The north-east has two directors, the north-west four, the north-central one and south-south one, while the south-east will have one from May 1.

A presidency official said to our correspondent it is “most probably” an oversight but did not volunteer further information.

At VON, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU) have questioned the appointment of Worlu as DG.

In a petition signed by the national secretaries of the NUJ and RATTAWU, the unions hinged their protest on the unsuitability of Worlu for the position owing to his lack experience in journalism or broadcasting.

They wrote: “We write to extend to his Excellency the highest esteem of out two unions and to register our protest over the recent appointment of the director-general of the Voice of Nigeria.

“Sir, the Voice of Nigeria Enabling Decree No 15 of May 19916(3) states that ‘the director-general shall be a person with wide knowledge and experience in broadcasting.’

“We therefore constrained to notify you that the person who now occupies the position of DG, Sampson Worlu, does not have any experience in media nor does he possess any knowledge or has any experience in broadcasting contrary to VON Enabling Decree.”

The unions described the appointment of Worlu as an aberration and appealed to the president “to redeploy him to any ministry or parastatal where his skills and knowledge can be better appreciated since he will not enjoy the cooperation of NUJ and RATTAWU”.

Speaking on the matter in Abuja, Shu’aibu Usman Leman, national secretary of the NUJ, said the protest of the unions had nothing “personal” to it.

He observed that there was a need to stop the practice of appointing media-aliens to head government media organizations, adding that stipulations of the law in matters of appointment must be respected.

However, he added that the NUJ would “support Worlu” if he was ready to learn.

Leman also said that the president was yet to respond to the petition, lamenting that there was nothing more the unions could do.

“Government is government, we cannot sack or appoint anyone, but we have registered our protest,” he said.

Worlu was appointed DG of VON on March 4 2015. He worked in the ministry of foreign affairs until his retirement in 2011. He was senior special assistant to Jonathan between 2010 and 2011.

He is from Rivers state, sparking off speculation that the president’s wife might have influenced his appointment.