News
ASURI urges Tinubu to reject tenure extension proposal of former RMRDC DG
The Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions(ASURI)has called on President Bola Tinubu to reject the tenure extension proposal of former director general of the
Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Hussein Ibrahim after his second and final tenure in office expired on April 7, 2024.
Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku, Secretary General of the ASURI, stated this in a letter addressed to the president and made available to the press on Wednesday in Abuja.
The letter was titled:
Urgent need to curb Professor Hussaini D. Ibrahim from holding on to the finances of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) after the expiration of his second and final tenure as Director General/Chief Executive Officer of the Council.
In the letter, the ASURI Secretary General argued that Prof. Ibrahim, former two term director general of the RMRDC totally disregarded and violated extant financial regulations by still holding on to the finances of the council.
“Following our protest letter of 16th April 2024, with Ref. No. ASN/SGF/RMRDC/0424/01, in which we reported his refusal to hand- over to the next most senior Director in compliance with extant regulations and vacate office.
” Professor Ibrahim did a hushed verbal handover to the Director of Industrial Plant and Equipment, Engineer Emmanuel Kwaya, without any documentation.
“However, he continues to hold on to control of the Council’s finances, authorizing payments and performing other executive functions as if nothing has changed, ” the letter read.
Ndubuaku wrote that ASURI had it on good account that the former RMRDC’s D-G, Ibrahim applied for tenure extension, which was an aberration with no legal backing anywhere.
He said Ibrahim was “already boasting that his approval would receive a Presidential nod anytime from now, which explains why he does not want to hand over.”
The ASURI Secretary General cited section 9 (d) of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council Act, 2022, which stated that the Director General/CEO shall “hold office for a term of five years in the first instance and may be re-appointed for another term of five years and no more.”
Ndubuaku clarified that giving Ibrahim a tenure extension of even one day would be an anathema to the laws of the land and the system and would negatively impact the anti-corruption stance and integrity of the President Bola Tinubu administration.
The letter explained that before Ibrahim was appointed as substantive Chief Executive of RMRDC in April 2014, he had occupied the position in an acting capacity for one year.
” He was appointed for a four-year tenure under the existing Establishment Act. He manipulated an amendment of the Act to make it a five-year tenure for the CEO, for which he has enjoyed two tenures of five years each, making a total stretch of 11 years as Chief Executive of RMRDC. “
Referring to the Circular of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) of 4th December 2024 with Ref. No. SGF.50/S.11/C.2/268 titled, “End of tenure processes for Heads of Extra-Ministerial Departments, Directors General , Chief Executive Officers of Parastatals, Agencies, Commissions and Government -owned companies succession guideline.”
The ASURI Secretary General said the circular stated: “…pending the appointment of a substantive Head of Extra-Ministerial Department/Director General/Chief Executive Officer of Parastatals, Agency, Commission and Government-owned Company, the outgoing Chief Executive Officer must handover to the next most senior officer of the establishment, as long as the officer does not have any pending disciplinary matter. “
Ndubuaku said the circular further explicitly stated that “outgoing Heads of Extra-Ministerial Departments, Parastatals, Agencies, Commissions, and Government-Owned Companies, are not allowed the discretion of choosing the officer to whom they would hand over.”
He said Professor Ibrahim’s refusal to hand-over formally and vacate office administratively and financially was also in violation of section 2.1.2 (d) (ii) of Conditions of Service for Federal Research Agencies, Institutions and Colleges (COS 2019).
The ASURI Secretary General therefore prayed that President Tinubu should reject the proposal of Professor Ibrahim for a tenure extension, no matter how brief.
That the President should direct office of the Accountant General of the Federation to delay the release of quarterly allocation of funds to RMRDC until a proper handover by Professor Ibrahim is done.
The ASURI also prayed that Tinubu directs a probe into the circumstances leading to the refusal of the former D-G to hand over and the financial authorizations he has granted since 8th April 2024.
Foreign news
French Envoy Seeks Collaboration With NAN To Boost Seamless Relationship
The new French envoy to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, on Wednesday called for collaboration with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) toward strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.
Fonbaustier, who is the French ambassador to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, NAN’s Managing Director, in Abuja.
The ambassador said that his purpose of visiting was to pay tribute to the MD, and to seek collaboration in three areas with a view to promoting stronger, seamless and fruitful partnership between both countries.
He added that Nigeria and its people were hospitable, especially to the foreigners and ambassadors alike.
He added that Nigeria was a country with so much energy, strength, stamina and so many talents.
In Nigeria, with the population of this size, it is inevitable that the elites of the country are very outstanding, “and there may be a Franco/Nigeria moments now”, he jokes.
According to him, France and Nigeria can collaborate more and learn from each other.
“I could feel it particularly during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu which took place in November 2024.
“I was there and I could see the intensity, the strength and the scope of the partnership, and I am here to scale up that partnership in all sectors.
“I am coming here for three reasons, first, to pay a tribute to the NAN MD and his team for the quality of this agency. We can testify that the contents that you publish are very factual, and also very well set up and structured.
“You do fact checking and you really do try to provide the community with quality information. I think, as a French ambassador, I can recognise that as part of a living democracy,” he said.
The French ambassador said the second reason for the visit was to intimate the NAN MD of France’s eagerness to go on partnership with NAN saying he hoped for assurance of a seamless, fluid and easy relationship.
He said that his third reason stemmed from his observation that NAN recently signed some partnership framework agreements with Egypt and China, saying “it may be time to think of balancing this partnership with others”.
“Especially with French, and to talk with Agence France-Presse (AFP) to see if there’s ground for a closer relationship between NAN and AFP.
“Which is also a recognised agency like yours, and I bet you the sky will be the limit to the collaboration, ’’he said.
Responding, the NAN MD informed the envoy that the agency was African’s biggest news content provider on account of its size.
Ali gave the envoy a little details of the agency’s operation and its outreach, saying “as our continent’s biggest news content provider, we have offices nationwide and in selected African countries.
“We have offices in countries such as South Africa, Cote d’ivoire, Addis Ababa, and then we have offices also beyond the shores of Africa. We have in New York and we are the only resident wire service in the United Nations.
“At a time in the past, the agency had 11 foreign offices, including Moscow, and presently, we are trying to re-open some of our shut offices, especially in London.
“We value partnership and understanding that we have with similar news organisation such as Reuters and, incidentally, we have a long standing relationship with AFP which you just raised.
“I know for years we have exchange of news between NAN and AFP but it’s a cooperation that we will like to strengthen and with your greater involvement,’’ he said.
The MD commended the ambassador for reaching out and engaging with some Nigerians communities to douse the tension of the allegation made by the Nigeriens.
He also lauded the envoy’s leadership and visibility to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, “which has helped to douse the perception and misconceptions about France, especially in the Sahel”.
“I think you have helped to reverse some of this perceptions. I thank you for the kind words that you said about the agency and about our management.
“We also see partnership as an important tool in checking the spread of fake news.
“We’ve seen instances where fake news has done great deal of damage, and with the coming of social media it has done even greater damage.
“Our country is facing a lot of challenges, one of which is the increasing insecurity, and the social media has been used by those who do not want to see our country to prosper,” Ali said.
He further said that NAN was a credible news agency that always fact check to correct the wrong narratives by those who are in the business of causing troubles.
He also told the envoy that the agency has its content in the Nigerian indigenous languages, starting with Hausa and it would proceed to Yoruba and Igbo languages later, “then later in future to French.
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