Three weeks after President Bola Tinubu announced the appointment of Dr Abdulrazak Namdas as the Director-General of the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA), controversy has emerged over the delay in issuing his formal appointment letter. Allegations have surfaced that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) has not yet implemented the presidential directive.
The delay has led to a leadership crisis in the agency, as the immediate past chief executive, Dr Dakorinama George, has continued to carry out official functions, even when the Presidency had announced Namdas as his replacement.
The Presidency announced Namdas’ appointment on June 26 in a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
The statement said George resigned to pursue an elective position in Rivers State.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Abdulrazak Sa’ad Namdas as the new Director-General of the Border Communities Development Agency.
“Dr Namdas replaces Dr Dakorinama Alabo George who resigned to contest for an elective position in his home state,” the statement said.
The Presidency said that the appointment was effective immediately.
However, it was gathered that Namdas has not assumed office as yet, as he has not received the formal appointment letter required for his resumption.
Meanwhile, George has continued to oversee the agency’s affairs and represent it at official functions.
One such engagement was when he met with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, in Abuja to seek the release of funds for BCDA projects.
George spoke about ongoing infrastructure projects in border communities and other development initiatives including a proposed $2bn Chinese investment in a livestock processing hub in Jigawa State and plans to establish a Border Communities Intelligence Corps, according to a statement published after the meeting.
The development has raised questions over who now exercises lawful authority at the agency.
An APC chieftain, Hamman Yero, alleged that the delay was a consequence of failure of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to transmit the President’s appointment.
In an interview with Trust TV, Yero wondered why Namdas has not received his appointment letter despite the public announcement by the Presidency.
“This is a mandate Nigerians have given to the President. “Who is the SGF acting on the mandate of?” he asked.
“If the President says Namdas should be appointed and the SGF sits on the appointment letter without releasing it, then serious constitutional and administrative questions arise.”
He said presidential appointments should in the normal course, go smoothly from presidential approval to the issuance of appointment letters through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Yero also dismissed the reports that George’s appointment had been restored.
George returned to the BCDA after losing the APC governorship primary in Rivers State, multiple sources familiar with developments at the agency alleged.
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A senior official of the agency, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment publicly, said George resumed official activities without a formal handover process.
“He resigned to seek the governorship. The source alleged that after losing, he “just came back and carried on, with no formal handover”.
The official also said George continued to receive political support within the administration.
The source also alleged that George’s continued stay at the agency was linked to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, under whom he served as Commissioner for Works in Rivers State.
Sunday PUNCH, however, said it could not independently verify the allegation.
A Wike ally dismissed the claim as “mere insinuation”.
“Wike is also an appointee of the President and he cannot have such powers,” the ally said.
In response to the controversy, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, insisted that President Tinubu had not reversed Namdas’ appointment.
“As I understand it, the President has not changed his mind. Namdas is the current Executive Secretary of the agency.
“All these things they are talking about, they don’t know what they are talking about. “The President has not changed his mind on the appointment of Namdas to head that border agency,” Onanuga said.
The presidential spokesman said the delay was because the formal appointment letter was a matter for the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“His appointment has been conveyed to the Office of the SGF, so the SGF has to issue him a letter,” he added.
Christopher Ugwuegbulam, the Head of Information and Public Relations, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, when contacted, said the office would only respond after receiving a formal inquiry.
“I would prefer that you write to us and we would sit down, and give you an answer,” he said.
“I don’t have any information on this issue,” the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the SGF, Yomi Odunuga, said also.