Chief Oluwafemi Adegboye, a leader of the All-Progressives Congress (APC), has charged the Federal Government and the administration of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) with breaking the Federal Character Principles when hiring staff for the organization.
He also demanded that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) launch an investigation into the finances of NIMET over the previous eight years, stating that the organization engaged in a number of fraudulent actions during that time.
In an effort to ensure an inquiry into the numerous unethical activities that occurred in the agency over the course of the previous eight years, Adegboye also lobbied President Bola Tinubu to place the whole executive management team as well as certain top managers on mandatory leave.
The Request
In a letter to President Bola Tinubu dated August 29, 2023, with the subject line “Very Urgent: Petition on Inadequacies, Misappropriation, Travesty and Corruption in NIMET, a Parastatal Under the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development,” the President was urged to correct all the irregularities that had been committed in the agency in the past.
Sen. Hadi Sirika, the previous minister of aviation, was charged in the document with exploiting the agency’s ethnic prejudices, and Mr. Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation and aerospace development, was also given a copy.
Adegboye said that the management had been functioning blatantly against federal character principles, with Sirika’s assistance.
For instance, he said that all of the employment done over the course of the eight years was biased and in favor of a specific area of the nation.
More details
Additionally, he claimed that all of the appointments to the agency’s executive and senior management levels were unfair. He emphasized that, of the 10 positions at the executive management level, for example, six of the candidates came from Katsina State and the other four came from the other five geopolitical regions of the nation.
He further asserted that the wage bill of the organization had nearly doubled as a result of illegal recruitments, accusing both the previous administration and the current management of Nimet of engaging in secret employment without authorization and without due process.
He further claimed that some southern agency employees were purposefully denied promotions in 2023, despite there being openings in their cadres.
What you must understand
Additionally, he noted that Sirika and the present management at NIMET abandoned the agency’s procedures for hiring employees and awarding contracts.
Added him:
Most often, advertisements for jobs and contracts are not posted as required by law. In all job and contract negotiations during the past eight years, there have been numerous shady dealings.More than 80% of the agency’s leadership and senior management have degrees in subjects unrelated to the organization’s mission. They lack the creative ideas to give NIMET the proper direction. Almost all of the money that NIMET generates is used to improve buildings, replace fittings that are outdated, and other things.
Infrastructure for meteorology, the advancement of meteorological science, and employee welfare receive little or no funding.
Adegboye demanded that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) conduct a thorough investigation into the financial irregularities of the NIMET administration. He questioned how, for example, a car park at the agency’s Kano Station could have cost around N250 million.
In addition, he questioned why the agency’s multi-million dollar Doppler Radar equipment was inoperable despite significant maintenance costs.
