No Hope for Board Inauguration
| Despite the deadline set for the inauguration of the members of the Board of Directors of parastatals under the Ministry of Aviation almost four years ago, there are no indications if they will ever take off. Five out of the six extra ministerial departments had their board members approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.However,Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika has not given any reason why the boards have not come into being. Comerade Adams Oshiomhole,former National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress,the ruling political party in Nigeria gave a deadline when the board should be inaugurated. The agencies with board of directors, according to the Acts setting them up are the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), while Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) does not have a board of directors. Speaking on the issue,Dr. Gbenga Olowo,President Aviation Round Table (ART)) said that the failure of the minister to inaugurate the boards for the aviation agencies cast a thick shadow on transparency, accountability and responsibility in the sector. “Due to the nature of professionalism in the aviation sector, its critical nature together with safety issues, there is the fundamental need for the emplacement of boards of directors for prompt decision-making. Interim boards can fill administrative vacuum, but agencies are not contemplated to run without functional boards for periods exceeding three months. ART is of the view that aviation sector policymakers adopt the international aviation best corporate governance for the promotion of safety.” “Sirika should as a matter of urgency inaugurate boards of directors for the respective agencies in order to avoid continuous breach of rules by the minister.” Also speaking, Comrade Abdulrazaq Saidu, the General Secretary, Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) said “ The failure of the minister to inaugurate boards of directors to the agencies indicates disregards to the rule of laws. ANAP for instance has written numerous letters to the minister to remind him of this oversight, but he has failed to respond to any of our letters on the issue.” “ Aviation workers were suffering because of the several actions of the minister since he came onboard. For instance, training of personnel has been relegated to the background in recent years.” According to Comrade Olayinka Abioye, the immediate past General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) “ The non-inauguration of the boards shows that something is actually wrong in the sector. Since the Acts setting up the agencies stipulate that they should have board of directors; the minister ought to have set them up immediately they were appointed by President Buhari. The minister may have willfully delayed their inauguration in order to continue to have influence on the agencies.” – “The implication is that the minister wants to still control the happenings in the parastatals. You are aware that by the Acts establishing these agencies, they are supposed to report to a board and in the absence of a board, the minister takes charge. So, if the minister has the audacity to set aside the directive of Mr. President, it goes to show that something is definitely wrong with our system.” – “ The minister and the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) have a limit on what they can approve and spend without recourse to the boards of directors. Some of his activities over the years indicate that he has flagrantly disobeyed the extant rules for the industry.” Some of the Names announced by President Buhari in 2018 through a circular signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha are: For NAMA: Dr. Yakubu Lame, Abdullahi Y. Gashu’a, Capt. Ibraheem Olugbade, FAAN had Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Akingbesote Akinyeye, Suleiman Mohammed and Bello Babura NCAT: Mrs. Deborah Iliyas and Chie Simon Owhofa. NiMET: Otunba J.F. Faleke and Dr. Chichi Ashwe. |
