Yankwashi, CIPMN President knocks MDAs, others over engagement of unlicensed project managers

•Vows to scale up enforcement

By Stanley Onyekwere

The newly elected President of the Chartered Institute of Project Managers Nigeria (CIPMN), Dr. Jamilu Yankwashi, has declared resolved to go after anybody found managing projects without the licence of the Institute, including the person that engaged such person to manage projects.
Yankwashi, who emerged CIPMN’s President with 18 votes out of the 23 accredited voters, at its Special General Meeting yesterday, in Abuja, decried that the engagement of unlicensed project managers by Ministries, Department and Agencies ( MDAs) as well as private sector players.
He noted that the newly elected members of the CIPMN Governing Board would begin enforcement of all relevant provisions of the Institute Act, once they are are inaugurated.
He explained that one of the key elements of ensuring successful delivery of projects in Nigeria is the knowledge of technical and know-how in project management both in theory and practice.
According to him, the Act establishing the Institute makes it mandatory for both public and private sectors players to ensure that all project managers were duly certified by CIPMN, but the law has been continually violated.
He said, “ Section 14 subsection 9 of the CIPMN establishment Act, No 3 of 2018, clearly provided that nobody shall be appointed to manage projects in any organisation whether it is public sector, organisation, or private sector organisation without the licence of the Chartered Institute or project of Nigeria and if you ever do that, you have committed offence punishable under Section 19 of the Act, which can give you up to two years in prison.
“ I wanted to ensure that there is issue of enforcement, because if you can’t enforce the powers in the field, literally, you are empowering people in the project sites to do the wrong thing.
“Most of the issue we are having is abandoned projects, building collapses, failed projects, and citizens’ dissatisfaction due to deficit in infrastructure are majorly attributed to quacks managing projects in the country.
“The Institute is empowered by virtue of the provision of section 21 to train, licence as well as prosecute anybody found managing projects without the licence of the Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria, including the person that employed such person without the licence to manage a project.
“So, authorities need to know that with the advent of this particular law, it is not just at your pleasure to appoint anybody to manage projects, because even you that appointed such person, you are at risk of going to jail for up to two by virtue of section 19 of the Law establishing the Institute”.
It was gathered that Yankwashi, who was the Vice President (North) in the Governing Council of the Institute, and later became Acting President, following the removal of Dr. (Mrs.) Victoria Ihekerenma Okoronkwo as president of the Institute.