A coalition comprising 21 civil society groups in the power sector says President Muhammadu Buhari approved the sack of Usman Mohammed, former managing director of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
In a communique issued in Abuja, the coalition said the sack was “duly conveyed to the Minister of Power through the Chief of Staff”.
After the sack of Mohammed, Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation, issued a circular that ministers and permanent secretaries cannot remove heads of government agencies from office.
But the coalition described the directive of Mustapha as “usurpation statutory powers of cabinet ministers”, accusing him of plotting to reinstate Mohammed.
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Musa Dawop, national coordinator of the coalition, called on the president to investigate the “special interest” of the SGF in power ministry.
“The fingerprints of the SGF are everywhere in TCN is sufficiently worrisome yet the fact remains that the sacked Managing Director (who is said to be his relative) had constituted himself as a stumbling block to the reform agenda of the President,” he said.
“Is it is not within the powers of Ministers to appoint qualified individuals who they can work with to deliver on the mandate given to them by the President in different sectors? For the avoidance of doubt the role of the SGF is mainly advisory and policy coordination. So far, beyond delegated duties, there are more than ten agencies directly domiciled under the supervision of the SGF and where he can exercise his power as he so wishes.”
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Dawop said the group would be “continue to watch over the power sector with vigilance to ensure that no individual no matter how highly placed will sabotage or derail the well intentioned efforts of the President to improve the power sector and transform our national economy”.
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