Rift between Presidency, ministers delays 

5 federal boards’ takeoff

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North
Lingering disagreement between some ministers and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation is delaying the inauguration of no fewer than five Federal Government agencies, Saturday Vanguard learnt recently.

The affected parastatals, whose board members were announced on July 10, 2014 by the Presidency, are: Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other related matters (NAPTIP), Federal College of Chemical and Leather Technology, Zaria, National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Zaria and the National Library of Nigeria.

However, investigation by Vanguard revealed that more two months after the constitution of the boards by the OSGF, neither their chairmen nor members have been sworn in to enable them to assume their respective offices owing to unresolved feud over the composition of the boards.

It was gathered that most of the supervising ministers were uncomfortable with the lists of chairmen and members of the board recommended to President Goodluck Jonathan for approval by the OSFG and were therefore reluctant to work with such boards.

Some of the ministers and heads of the parastatals, Vanguard learnt, were upset that their preferred cronies for  the positions of chairmen and members were excluded from the boards at the last minute by the OSGF and were therefore not too keen on accepting the new appointees, which they fear might cause problems for them.

It was learnt that a frontline politician cum journalist, who had worked tirelessly for the victory of President Jonathan in 2011 and was included on the board of one of the agencies under the Federal Ministry of Justice, had in frustration over the non-inauguration of his board, reported the undue delay to the Presidency, which facilitated the inclusion of his name.

The aggrieved ministers and heads of the affected parastatals are said to be lobbying the Presidency to include their nominees, whom they claim also worked for the victory of the ruling party during the last election and are also working for the same government ahead of the 2015 polls.

The delay in swearing in the new board chairmen and members is said to be causing unease among the nominees as they have been denied the monthly stipends and other perks of office that go with such appointments in Nigeria.

The appointees, it was learnt, have decided to take their case back to the Presidency, which approved their appointments in appreciation of their support in recent years.

One of the affected appointees, who is close to Vice President Namadi Sambo,  told Vanguard that it was wrong for any minister or head of parastatal to block any board appointment since they do not know what sacrifice they made to ensure the success of the party in the last election.

“It is a pity that we have not yet been inaugurated because of the selfish interest of some well placed persons, who did not suffer with us to bring about the success of this government,” the appointee said.