By Abubakar Yunusa
Confusion has trailed the leadership of the Upper Niger River Basin Development Authority (UNRBDA) following the appointment of two individuals as managing director and chief executive officer by President Bola Tinubu.
The initial appointment, dated October 30, 2024, was communicated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume.
In a letter with reference number SGF.51/S.4/T/368, Aliyu Tajudeen was named the MD/CEO of the agency for a four-year term, effective October 29, 2024.
However, in a contradictory move, the President subsequently announced the appointment of Dangajere Shuaibu Bawa Jaja as MD/CEO of the same agency.
This second appointment was disclosed in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
The announcement also included the appointment of six executive directors for the UNRBDA.
Efforts to clarify the apparent overlap yielded no response, as Mr. Onanuga did not respond to inquiries at the time of filing this report.
The dual appointments have raised concerns about potential administrative conflicts and uncertainties within the agency, which plays a critical role in Nigeria’s water resources development.
Reacting to the frequent reversals in Mr Tinubu’s appointments, an insider source who spoke to our correspondent attributed the issues to a lack of due diligence and alleged hijacking of the process by certain cabals within the presidency.
Also some political analyst in Kaduna State observed that the name Dangajere Shuaibu Bawa Jaja does not represent either Shuaibu Bawa Jaja, a former Chairman of Kudan Local Government or Mr Dangajere who is a former Chairman of Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna state.
“The situation has heightened confusion that those responsible for the appointments could not realise earlier appointments made thus, the current embarrassment of announcing three names.”
When contacted for response, the special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, didn’t respond to our correspondent inquiry on the error as the time of filing this report.
