Group kicks against appointment of Executive Secretary/CEO of NADF

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

A group under the auspices of the Youth Transparency Initiative, said the appointment of Mohammed Abu Ibrahim as Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) is deficient and should not be allowed to stand.
The Chairman Kobo Umar stated this in a statement made available to the media in Kaduna yesterday.
The group said they have no problem with whoever is appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu so long as the law guiding such appointments is adhered to and so long as the person so appointed is considered competent enough.
They, however observed that the appointment of Ibrahim violates the provisions of the Act establishing NADF.
Part III 10 (2) of the Act establishing the NADF states clearly the requisite qualification and experience required for a person to be appointed its chief executive.
The Act, according to them provides that, “the Executive Secretary shall possess cognate experience in any of the following disciplines: (a) agricultural finance; (b) economics; or (c) agricultural policy formulation and implementation.
“Mohammed does not satisfy this provision of the law. The appointee lacks adequate experience to give appropriate direction to this agency which is still at its infancy stage, was established in May 2023.
“Besides, the illegality, Mohammed has not had sufficient exposure to politics and general administration and does not possess enough cognate experience as far as agriculture finance, economics, or agricultural policy and implementation are concerned.
“We therefore consider his appointment as deficient and should not be allowed to stand.”