Worry as NCAA acting DG tenure expires

There is disquiet among the staff members and management of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority as well as in the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development over the decision of who becomes the substantive director-general of the aviation regulatory agency.

 There has been tension within the NCAA over the past six months, due to a leadership dispute between Captain Musa Nuhu, who was appointed substantive director-general of the NCAA by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, and Captain Chris Najomo, who was appointed as acting DG of the agency by President Bola Tinubu in January 2024.

Until his appointment, Nuhu, pilot, safety expert, quality assurance lead auditor, and artificial intelligence expert, was Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

 Nuhu had worked at various times at the defunct Nigeria Airways, Aero Contractors and Petrowest, among other organisations.

He holds an MSc. in Aviation Business from Concordia University and was in the Presidential Air Fleet as a captain and a safety officer. He also has a Diploma in Aviation Safety from the University of Southern California.

 On December 13, 2023, the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development announced the suspension of Nuhu as the DG of the NCAA over alleged corrupt practices.

 The ministry, in a release, noted that Nuhu would be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for further investigation.

The ministry named Najomo as Nuhu’s successor in an acting capacity for six months.

 Six months after the suspension, an update on his probe was yet to be made public.

 Efforts to get the official state of the investigation from the spokesperson of the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, proved abortive, as he neither picked up repeated calls from our correspondent nor responded to text messages of inquiry on the matter.

 A top member of staff in the NCAA, who spoke under anonymous conditions over fear of getting reprimanded, hinted to The According that he was not sure that Nuhu was caught in the web of any form of corrupt practice.

“He was only in his travail because the minister must install loyal lieutenants in the agencies under his office, one of which was the NCAA,” the source stated.

 But, six months after his suspension from office, it was learned that Nuhu’s refusal to resign had been blocking the attempt to confirm Najomo as a substantive DG.

 Meanwhile, Najomo’s first six months in office expired on June 13.

When asked if the ministry had communicated the next move to the NCAA, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Aviation, Tunde Moshood, assured that the ministry would do the necessary thing.

 “The real expiration is still in a few days and the next thing will be done, that you can be assured of. The minister has been away for a while; he just returned and I know he will act as appropriate,” he noted.

 Part IV of the NCAA Act 2022 stated, “The Director-General of Civil Aviation could only be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the minister, subject to confirmation by the Senate.”

 The Act also said that the director-general could be appointed for a term of five years in the first instance and may be re-appointed for a further term of five years.

 Section 3 of the Act added that the substantive director-general could only be removed from office by the President subject to confirmation by the Senate only when he is of unsound mind, absent from five consecutive meetings of the board without the consent of the chairman, unless he shows good reason for such absence and guilty of serious misconduct.

 The leadership tussle in the NCAA  has caused division in the agency, as some believed that the recusing of Nuhu was unjust, others stood with the acting DG, praying that he be confirmed as a substantive DG.

 The According also gathered that some senior staff members of the agency and non-staff members were already jostling for the seat of the NCAA DG.