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NCAA DG conundrum unsettles nerves as Nuhu holds on as ‘substantive’, Najomo ‘acting’

The inability to resolve the position of the suspended Director-General of Nigerian Civil (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu is unsettling nerves and may complicate the confirmation of Captain Chris Najomo as substantive head of the aviation regulatory body.
Capt. Nuhu’s counsel from Chamo & Ismail law firm while taking a formal pre-action notice against a media house (Not Aviation Metric) on an article it described as defamatory published on May 17, 2024, titled “EFCC to arraign suspended NCAA DG, Nuhu on graft allegations,” described Nuhu as “The current Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.”
Capt Chris Ona Najomo
According to the law firm, ‘The article contains false and damaging statements about their client, Captain Musa Nuhu, the current Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).”
The situation further buttresses Aviation Metric’s publication of April 23, 2024, entitled, “FG at crossroads over former NCAA DG’s removal, may hamper Najomo’s confirmation”,
The problem has festered as Nuhu is bent on clearing his name and reputation over several billion Naira graft allegation levelled against him that made it easy for President Bola Tinubu based on a recommendation to order his removal from office pending when he clears his name.
Having succeeded in suspending him, Capt Chris Najomo was appointed to oversee the activities of NCAA in an Acting capacity until when the National Assembly would confirm him before the President formally announces his appointment as substantive Director-General.
The law stipulates that Najomo can only act for six months before he is confirmed or asked to give way for another. Going by the law, Najomo should be by now be confirmed or replaced as the law does not permit NCAA DG in an acting capacity for more than six months.
The only obstacle on his way before he can be confirmed is for Nuhu to relinquish his position willingly. However, that looks very unlikely because of his reputation which may have been tarnished by allegations that he was involved in graft.
The NCAA DG’s position is tenured just like the position of the Director-General of the Nigerian Safety Investigative Bureau (NSIB) and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and can only be removed from office by a recommendation of the National Assembly or by the President if they are found to have committed financial impropriety or dereliction of duty.
Capt Nuhu was suspended from office and replaced with Capt. Najomo. The reason according to Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale was to enable the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to conduct an unfettered investigation into the activities of the suspended Director-General and other senior officials in the NCAA.
Nuhu had pleaded his innocence as the anti-graft agency is yet to prove its case against the former DG.
A source very close to intrigues about the conundrum in the headship of NCAA confided in Aviation Metric that many influential persons had made overtures to the former DG to lay the matter to rest.
The source disclosed that doing so may pave the way for the confirmation of Najomo as the substantive NCAA Director-General, who is an obvious choice of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo for the top job.
Section 11 of the law which talks about the appointment and removal of the director general said, “There shall be for the Authority a Director-General Civil Aviation Appointment (in this Act referred to as “the Director-General”) who shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Minister, subject to confirmation by the Senate.

The law also clearly states that “The Director-General may be removed from office by the President subject to confirmation by the Senate, where he becomes of unsound mind or is incapable of carrying out his duties as a result of physical or mental illness or has demonstrated inability to effectively perform the duties of his office; has been absent from five consecutive meetings of the Board without the consent of the Chairman unless he shows good reason for such absence or in the case of a person possessed of professional qualifications, is disqualified or suspended from practising his profession in any part of the world by an order of a competent authority;”
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