NPA Defends Lopsided GM Appointments, Says No Northernisation Agenda
*Confirms 15 GMs from North, 7 from South
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman Tuesday defended appointments of General Managers and other top positions in the organisation, saying there was no truth in allegation of lopsided appointments that are aimed at northernising the authority.
But the statement by the General Manager, Corporate Communications of the authority, Engr. Jatto Adam showed that 15 officials from the Northern part of the country occupy general manager positions while others from the South are only seven.
This was as the statement claimed that the allegation of deliberate lopsided appointment was unfounded and riddled with untruth.
The statement showed that the North east has seven GMs, North West – five while North Central has three.
In the breakdown of appointments, the whole South has seven officials in GM positions.
The breakdown further shows that four of the GMs are from the South East, two from the South West and one from the South South.
The organisation in the statement however explained, “the appointment and promotion of General Managers and Asst. General Managers are routinely guided by vacancy, exigencies, seniority, competency and strict application of Federal Character Principle in order to ensure equity and even distribution of positions in the organization.
“General Managers are usually appointed from the pool of Assistant General Managers who would ordinarily have been in the service of the Authority for long enough to have acquired significant experience in every aspect of the NPA’s operations.
“Records at the moment, show that while some zones may have fewer representation in General Manager cadre, they have higher representation in the two other most senior roles of Assistant General Manager and Principal Managers”.
General Managers Assistant General Managers Principal Managers Total
North-Central 3 6 36 45
North-East 7 10 27 44
NorthWest 5 3 26 34
South East 4 10 36 50
South South 1 10 43 54
South West 2 13 60 75
Total 22 52 228 302
“Stakeholders and the general public should also kindly note that while the General Manager, Finance is from the South East, the offices of General Manager, Seaview and General Manager Accounts do not exist, contrary to the reports being circulated.
“On allegations that some retired General Managers have had their tenures extended on contract in order to stop their “potential successors” from succeeding them, management asserts that this is totally untrue.
“The two cases that were mentioned, General Manager, Human Resources Mr. Yahaya Bukar (Aug.2018-Aug 2020) and General Manager, Engineering, “Engr Ahmed Rufai Mohammed( Feb 2020-2021) had their tenures legally extended for the specific reason of the completion of some of the very important projects that were started within the period of their services as General Managers. This situation also applied to the immediate past General Manager, Finance, Mr Simeon Aniobi, whose tenure was extended between Oct 2017 and October 2019.
“The management of the Authority is confident to say that it is guided by principles of fairness, equity and the law of the country in all its operations”.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman Tuesday defended appointments of General Managers and other top positions in the organisation, saying there was no truth in allegation of lopsided appointments that are aimed at northernising the authority.
But the statement by the General Manager, Corporate Communications of the authority, Engr. Jatto Adam showed that 15 officials from the Northern part of the country occupy general manager positions while others from the South are only seven.
This was as the statement claimed that the allegation of deliberate lopsided appointment was unfounded and riddled with untruth.
The statement showed that the North east has seven GMs, North West – five while North Central has three.
In the breakdown of appointments, the whole South has seven officials in GM positions.
The breakdown further shows that four of the GMs are from the South East, two from the South West and one from the South South.
The organisation in the statement however explained, “the appointment and promotion of General Managers and Asst. General Managers are routinely guided by vacancy, exigencies, seniority, competency and strict application of Federal Character Principle in order to ensure equity and even distribution of positions in the organization.
“General Managers are usually appointed from the pool of Assistant General Managers who would ordinarily have been in the service of the Authority for long enough to have acquired significant experience in every aspect of the NPA’s operations.
“Records at the moment, show that while some zones may have fewer representation in General Manager cadre, they have higher representation in the two other most senior roles of Assistant General Manager and Principal Managers”.
General Managers Assistant General Managers Principal Managers Total
North-Central 3 6 36 45
North-East 7 10 27 44
NorthWest 5 3 26 34
South East 4 10 36 50
South South 1 10 43 54
South West 2 13 60 75
Total 22 52 228 302
“Stakeholders and the general public should also kindly note that while the General Manager, Finance is from the South East, the offices of General Manager, Seaview and General Manager Accounts do not exist, contrary to the reports being circulated.
“On allegations that some retired General Managers have had their tenures extended on contract in order to stop their “potential successors” from succeeding them, management asserts that this is totally untrue.
“The two cases that were mentioned, General Manager, Human Resources Mr. Yahaya Bukar (Aug.2018-Aug 2020) and General Manager, Engineering, “Engr Ahmed Rufai Mohammed( Feb 2020-2021) had their tenures legally extended for the specific reason of the completion of some of the very important projects that were started within the period of their services as General Managers. This situation also applied to the immediate past General Manager, Finance, Mr Simeon Aniobi, whose tenure was extended between Oct 2017 and October 2019.
“The management of the Authority is confident to say that it is guided by principles of fairness, equity and the law of the country in all its operations”.
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