The Adebayo Somefun-led management of NSITF has denied being suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Frontline News Online had reported that the suspension of the M.D and a number of other management staff was approved by the President, as contained in a statement from the minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige.
But in a swift response to the minister, the management of NSITF said in statement sent to Frontline News Online that the President has not suspended the management of NSITF.
The statement read in part: “We wish to state that President Muhammadu Buhari has not suspended the management of NSITF and did not make such announcement. The person mentioned in the media report is not a staff of the President.
“For clarity, we need to mention that we received a letter from the Hon Minister of Labour and Employment Sen Chris Ngige stating that he is doing a procurement audit on NSITF and that Management is suspended.
“We note that the Minister’s action is against President Buhari’s directive through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation that stated clearly that no Minister should suspend or sack any head of agency appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari”.
“The memo stated that Ministers should follow procedures by going through the governing board of the agency that will now make recommendations to the SGF to act if there is need. We are sure that President Buhari will not be part of any illegality and lack of due process.
“Meanwhile, the management of NSITF is open to any form of investigation by the appropriate agency as there is nothing that the management will hide or is hiding. We have been in receipt of several letters by the minister and several petitions written against NSITF by the Minister of Labour, Sen Chris Ngige and we will make all communications available to the public and relevant authorities”, the statement further read.
Frontline News gathered that the management of NSITF are still in office, even as stakeholders have pointed to a cold war between the agency leadership and Ngige as the reason for the move to have them suspended.
Sources listed contentious issues between the agency’s leadership and the minister to include the his insisting on the appointment of a board secretary who is not a lawyer, against the NSITF ACT.
Sources also said the minister single handedly retrieved NSITF budget and reworked the budget by himself.
Another issue raised by sources pointing to the minister’s stifling interference in the running of the NSITF is the fact that the procurement audit is still being carried out, since it started on the 29th to end on Friday, 3rd july,but he had already jumped steps in the process of suspending or sacking indicted public officers to announce the suspension of the management of the agency.
“The minister grounded the activities of the fund (NSITF) since last year october because the current executive management refused to dance to his tunes”, the source alleged.
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