Aviation Ministry In Dilemma Over Naming Substantive NCAA DG

 …Suspended DG NCAA In Limbo – Source

…Najomo Still In Acting Capacity – NCAA

…Keyamo Will Address Gap – Aide

 The Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development is in quandary over the ap­pointment of a new substantive Direc­tor-General for the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

This is so because Capt. Musa Nuhu, the suspended Director-General Civil Aviation (DGCA), has refused to tender his resignation from his position since De­cember 13, 2023, when his suspension was announced by the Federal Government.

The government had in a statement on December 13, 2023, alleged that Nuhu was suspend­ed for alleged corrupt practices and would be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation or prosecution as the case may be.

Apart from Nuhu, five other aviation agencies heads were also sacked by the government.

But six months after his sus­pension from office, it was learnt that Nuhu was yet to receive a suspension letter from the Feder­al Government, while the govern­ment had also not filed any case of corruption against him before the EFCC.

The Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development had an­nounced Capt. Chris Najomo as the Acting Director-General Civil Aviation.

But six months after his ap­pointment in an acting capacity, the ministry was yet to send Na­jomo’s name to the National As­sembly for confirmation.

Also, the Nigeria Civil Avia­tion Act 2022 stipulated that an acting Director-General cannot be in that capacity for more than six months.

Najomo clocked six months in that capacity on Thursday.

Besides, Part IV – Manage­ment and Staff of the Authority of NCAA Act 2022 specified that the Director-General Civil Avia­tion could only be appointed by the president on the recommen­dation of the minister, subject to confirmation by the Senate.

The Act also stated that the Director-General could be ap­pointed for a term of five years in the first instance and may be re-appointed for a further term of five years.

The Section 3 of the Act, how­ever, said that the substantive Director-General could only be removed from office by the pres­ident subject to confirmation by the Senate only when he is of unsound mind, absent from five consecutive meetings of the board without the consent of the chairman unless he shows good reason for such absence and guilty of serious misconduct.

Others are in the case of a person possessed of professional qualifications, is disqualified or suspended from practising his profession in any part of the world by an order of a competent au­thority, is in a conflict of interest as stipulated in the First Schedule to this Act and others.

Daily Independent learnt that Nuhu had vowed not to tender any resignation letter unless he was absolved of the corruption allegation leveled against him by the government.

A source close to Nuhu con­fided in Daily Independent on Thursday that the government was mounting pressure on the suspended director-general to resign, but he had vehemently kicked against this.

Also, it was learnt that his decision not to resign had put his future in limbo as he could not seek for another job either in the country or outside of it, but he was determined to clear his name of any allegation.

Besides, it was learnt that some officials of the government had promised to give Nuhu his en­titlement as the DGCA of NCAA only if he tendered his resignation letter, an offer Nuhu blatantly re­fused.

The source said: “I think Nuhu is in a limbo. Till date, he has not heard anything from the govern­ment since he was suspended and has not equally earned any amount of money within the same period. He is neither here nor there. He is still seen as a gov­ernment official.

“I don’t think he has created any problem. The government said they suspended him. Let the government take a decision. You cannot suspend him without pay for six months. Do you want him to die of hunger? Yet, he cannot go out to seek for another job.

“The government should in­vestigate him and if found guilty, they can take him to the court, but it is not fair to keep him in limbo for six months.”

Also, Mr. Tunde Moshood, the Special Adviser to Mr. Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Avia­tion, assured that the minister would address the issue very soon.

Moshood speaking on phone with our correspondent on Thurs­day, said that the minister just re­sumed to office from an official duty.

He said: “The minister has been away. He has just come back. I am sure he is aware and the issue will be addressed.”

Besides, Mr. Mike Achimugu, Director, Public Affairs and Con­sumer Protection, NCAA, con­firmed that Najomo was still in office as the Acting Director-Gen­eral Civil Aviation.

Achimugu further explained that the agency was yet to receive any new directive from either the presidency or the ministry on the issue of a substantive Direc­tor-General for NCAA.

“We are not aware of any thing yet. I do not know anything about the tenureship thing. We are just doing our job until any directive comes from the presi­dency or the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development,” he said.

Also, Nuhu had last week threatened to take legal action against a newspaper house (not Daily Independent), which claimed he was being investigated by EFCC for corruption.

He also demanded that the publication be immediately re­tracted and link thereof taken down within 72 hours, beginning from Tuesday, this week.

A letter from Chamo & Ismail, a legal representative to Nuhu, dated June 4, 2024, obtained by Daily Independent, with the head, ‘Pre-Action Notice Defamatory Publication In Re: Capt. Musa Nuhu, DG NCAA,’ signed by U.U. Chamo Esq, threatened that if the story was not retracted with­in the stipulated time, it would not hesitate to initiate a robust lawsuit against the publisher of the report.

The lawyer said that the let­ter, served as a formal pre-action notice concerning the defama­tory statements titled, ‘EFCC to arraign suspended NCAA DG, Nuhu, on graft allegations,’ on May 17, 2024.

The lawyer declared that the news piece was not only entirely unfounded, it also contained nu­merous false, misleading and in­jurious statements against Nuhu and his reputation.

The letter also insisted that the claim by the report that Nuhu was to be arraigned by the EFCC on graft allegations suggested estab­lishment and a prima facie case warranting arraignment.