HOUSE OF REPS FAULTS FAULTS OGBEH ON DIRECTOR’S REMOVAL
The House of Representatives may intervene in the withdrawal of the appointment of Napoleon Aisueni as the Director/Chief Executive of the Nigerian Institute for oil Palm Research, Benin City, it was gathered yesterday.
Aisueni, who was in acting capacity for three-month, was removed as substantive director after one month in office with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh allegedly claiming the “appointment was made in error”.
A member of the House of Representatives, Ehiozuwa Agbonayinma (PDP, Edo), at a media interactive session yesterday said the minister need to explain to Nigeria what constitute the error in the appointment.
Saying that the withdrawal was suspicious, the lawmaker said the House might intervene because due process was followed in the initial appointment.
He said: “The minister, following a memo from the office of Permanent Secretary in the ministry directed the appointment of directors of 13 institutes, including Dr. Aisueni, who was duly appointed on the 9th of November 2017.
“But following a frivolous petition, the minister came out with the opinion that the appointment of Dr. Aisueni was done in error.
“From the establishment Act and the interpretation of public service rules on tenured appointments of serving public officers and a memo from the office of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, the appointment of Dr. Aisuene and the 13 others followed due process.
“It is disheartening that the minister is prejudiced by his action following his affinity to one of the petitioners. I sincerely request the minister to adhere to the rules of the land.
“This is not about ethnicity or tribalism , it is about justice. We should not allow anything that will jeopardise what this government is trying to do about corruption.
“The House of Representatives is about justice and under the leadership of Yakubu Dogara, it will not allow this injustice to prevail.”