President Bola Tinubu intends to fill approximately 2,000 vacant positions following the dissolution of governing boards of over 153 agencies, parastatals, institutions, and government-owned companies on Monday.
According to reports on Wednesday, News About Nigeria understands that President Tinubu plans to appoint members of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), to fill these positions.
The dissolved boards were originally constituted by former President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2017.
Tinubu announced the dissolution of the governing boards of all federal government parastatals, agencies, and commissions on Monday night. However, the directive excluded boards of commissions and councils listed in the third schedule, part one, section 153 (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Excluded agencies include the Nigeria Judicial Council, Code of Conduct Bureau, Council of State, Federal Character Commission, Federal Civil Service Commission, Independent National Electoral Commission, National Population Commission, Police Service Commission, and Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.
Investigations conducted on Wednesday revealed that approximately 2,000 individuals are expected to be appointed to the boards of various agencies, parastatals, commissions, departments, and others by the President.
Notable vacancies include 12 board slots in the North-East Development Commission, 7 in the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, 7 in the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, 21 in the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, 12 in the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, 21 in the National Universities Commission, 14 in the Transmission Commission of Nigeria, and 12 in the National Health Insurance Authority.
Other agencies with vacancies include the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (7), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (7), Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (8), Nigerian Police Trust Fund (8), Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency (10), Federal Institute of Industrial Research (11), and National Centre for Technology Management (11).
Furthermore, vacancies are available in the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (11), Nigerian Customs Service (11), National Pension Commission (17), National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (11), National Identity Management Commission (19), West Africa Examination Council (8), Niger Delta Development Commission (13), National Institute of Sports (12), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Company (12), National Bureau of Statistics (15), Federal Inland Revenue Services (15), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (8), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (7), among others.
While the exact number of vacant board slots could not be confirmed due to a lack of credible information about several agencies and commissions, which often lack websites, it was discovered that a federal board typically consists of an average of eight members, while some agencies have as many as 14 board positions.
The previous administration made last-minute appointments to some boards, which received criticism from observers.
For instance, four days before handing over to Tinubu, Buhari approved the appointment of Garzali Abubakar as the Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Development Fund, along with the appointment of the chairman and board members of the fund.
Party sources have indicated that the board appointments will primarily serve as a means to reward and empower loyalists and supporters of the APC.
However, the Director of Publicity for the APC, Bala Ibrahim, stated that board appointments should not be seen as a reward system, emphasizing that it is the prerogative of the President to decide whether to appoint party members or technocrats to his administration.
Tinubu, during a meeting with Senators on June 7, assured that those who lost elections and other members of the party would not be left out of appointments. He stated that the benefits and opportunities within the party were open to all members and Nigerians.
Stakeholders have advised the President to prioritize merit when appointing board members. Chijioke James, the President of the Electricity Consumers Association of Nigeria, expressed hope that the President would consider expertise and capacity in the constitution of the Transmission Commission of Nigeria (TCN) board, emphasizing the need to declare a state of emergency in the power sector.
