By Abdullahi Mohammed
Civil Society Groups have advised president Muhammadu Buhari to appoint the new boards of the various federal government agencies and parastatals based on their track record . This call was made on Tuesday by the groups which argued that appointments to serve on the board of any government agency, parastatals or department ought to be based on the track record, experience, professionalism, industry exposure, competence and integrity of the appointee.
The groups commended the president for sacking the board. “The undersigned civil society groups working on transparency, accountability and good governance in Nigeria wish to publicly commend president Muhammadu Buhari for his bold and courageous decision to dissolve the boards of federal parastatals, agencies and departments in Nigeria. The landmark decision taken by Mr. president and announced on july 16th, 2015 is not only timely but has come as a great relief to the management and staff federal parastatals, agencies and departments nationwide, and to ordinary Nigerians who have watched helplessly as boards have become the conduit for corruption in the country” they lamented.
They stated further that ” the stakeholders of the respective agencies who have operated under fear and bondage following the unwholesome activities of the so called board members especially in the last eight years have also applauded this decision.
The CSOs justified the sack on the grounds that “Appointments to serve on the board of any government agency, parastatals or department ought to be based on the track record, experience, professionalism, industry exposure, competence and integrity of the appointee. The appointment therefore should be an opportunity to give -back, by bringing this wealth of knowledge and influence to help the agencies and parastatals in developing enduring policies and strategies to move the organization to higher level in pursuit and realization of its mandate.
“ Unfortunately, what we find in Nigeria, especially in the last 6 years, was a situation where job seekers, influence peddlers, sycophants, political party jobbers clearly lacking in experience, knowledge, competence and integrity were appointed into boards to preside over the affairs of very sensitive organizations as compensation for their political support or pay off in anticipation of future support.
The said further that “The implications of this ugly development resulted in a situation where board meetings were turned into forum to plot and appropriate allowances, plot useless duty tours, fight over contract awards and other unwholesome practices that undermined the work of the agencies.
“We are aware that in many of the federal agencies, the board members simply met only for the purpose of allocating to themselves hefty sitting or monthly allowances that were neither approved by relevant statutory government authorities nor provided for in the national budget.
“ In most of these board meetings, the main reasons for their convening, which ought to be assisting the government in developing
policies and strategies for efficient performance of the duties of the organizations were usually abandoned. this is because board appointments have become an avenue to settle the boysand pacify supporters.
“ We are also aware that the boards of many parastatals have become drainpipes to loot the resources of the organisations through the procurement of goods, works and services in flagrant breach of appropriate laws and regulations. Many of those who bought their way to secure board appointments did so for reasons of being in a position to dispense contracts in the organizations to themselves and cronies.
The groups said als they were “aware that the managements of many federal parastatals, departments and agencies have been hijacked by part time board members who impose themselves to operate full time in flagrant abuse of the law of the land. The management and staff of the agencies are usually intimidated with threats of sack or dismissal and blackmailed to keep quiet. we are aware that overbearing influence of so-called board members has affected the zeal, enthusiasm, and commitment of most management and staff to carry out their functions without fear or favor. this is particularly evident in the academia where people who have no understanding of the education sector are appointed as governing board members, taking over policy-making which has partly accounted for the systematic desecration and decay in our institutions of higher learning.
“We are very much aware that the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria are also seriously affected by these “locusts” and “parasites” called Board Members. we have cases where political jobbers, praise singers, lacking in character, integrity and competence are appointed to serve either as chairmen and members of reputable anti-corruption organisations in Nigeria. This has brought severe consequences that are too difficult to measure in the eyes of the Nigerian public and the international community. Our institutions of higher learning are not spared where semi- illiterates and drop – outs are offered the position of members and chairmen of governing councils etc
Those who endorsed the statement include Ezenwa Nwagwu, Partners For Electoral Reform,Eze Onyekpere,Centre For Social Justice (CSJ) Edetaen Ojo,Media Rights Agenda,Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani),Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and Y Z. Ya’u,Centre For Information And Technology And Development (CITAD).
Others include Idayat Hassan , Centre For Democracy And Development (CDD),Jaye Gaskia,Protest To Power,Zikirullahi Ibrahim,Transition Monitoring Group (TMG),M. B. Attah,Procurement Observation And Advocacy Initiative,Okeke Anya, State Of The Union (SOTU),Lukman Adefolahan,Zero Corruption Coalition (ZCC),Olanrewaju Suraju,Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC),Akpobari Celestine,Social Action,Samson Itodo, Say No Campaign,Chioma Kanu,Women In Nigeria,Bilkisu Yusuf,Advocacy Nigeria and Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi, Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED).