NIMET is allegedly corrupt, says APC Chieftain, who demands an investigation

Chief Oluwafemi Adegboye, a leader of the All-Progressives Congress (APC), has said that the Federal Government and the administration of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) violated the Federal Character Principles when hiring individuals for the organization.

In addition, he 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 corrupt actions during that time.

In an effort to guarantee a probe into the various fraudulent activities in the agency over the previous eight years, Adegboye also lobbied President Bola Tinubu to place the whole executive management team and several senior officials on mandatory leave.

A petition
NIMET is a parastatal under the ministry of aviation and aerospace development. In a letter dated August 29, 2023 to President Bola Tinubu, 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 former minister of aviation, was charged in the document with playing up ethnic tensions within the organization. Mr. Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation and aerospace development, received a copy of the accusation.

Adegboye said that the management had been acting in blatant defiance of federal character principles while being supported by Sirika.

For instance, he said that all of the employment done over the eight years was biased and in favor of a specific area of the nation.

Additional information
He further claimed that all appointments to the agency’s executive and senior management levels were biased, highlighting the fact that, of the 10 positions at the executive management level, for example, six were filled by residents of Katsina State and the remaining four by residents of the other five geopolitical regions of the nation.

He also stated that the agency’s salary bill had nearly doubled as a result of illicit recruitments, accusing both the previous administration and the present management of Nimet of engaging in covert hiring without permission and following proper process.

Additionally, he said that several agency employees in the south were purposefully denied promotions in 2023, despite the fact that openings in their cadres existed.

Important information
Additionally, he emphasized how Sirika and the present management at NIMET abandoned the agency’s procedures for fair hiring and contracting.

He continued:

Most often, legal advertisements for jobs and contracts are not posted. In all job and contract negotiations during the past eight years, there have been many shady agreements.The agency’s leadership and senior management studied subjects unrelated to the organization’s mission in greater than 80% of cases. In terms of giving NIMET the right direction, they are lacking in ideas. Almost all of the money that NIMET generates is used for things like building improvements, replacing outdated construction, and other things.
Infrastructure for meteorology, the advancement of meteorological science, and employee welfare receive very little or no funding.
Adegboye demanded that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) conduct a thorough investigation into the financial irregularities of NIMET management. He questioned how, for example, a parking space at the agency’s Kano Station could have cost roughly N250 million.

In addition, he questioned why the agency’s multi-million dollar Doppler Radar system wasn’t operating despite the enormous sums of money that were spent on its upkeep.