President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Engineer Umar Abdullahi Umar as the Executive Director, Technical Services of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
Politics Nigeria understands that Engineer Umar is the son of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Umar’s appointment into the new REA management team came barely an hour after President Tinubu approved the indefinite suspension of the agency’s team led by Ahmad Salihijo.
Salhijo, who was appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, was suspended alongside three directors over alleged fraudulent transactions.
The directors are Olaniyi Alaba Netufo — Executive Director, Corporate Services; Barka Sajou — Executive Director, Technical Services; and Sa’adatu Balgore — Executive Director, Rural Electrification Fund (REF).
While Tinubu named Aliyu Abubakar as replacement for Salihijo, he appointed three others, including Ganduje’s son as the new Executive Directors of the Agency.
The other two new directors are: Ayoade Gboyega — Executive Director, Corporate Services; and Doris Uboh — Executive Director, Rural Electrification Fund (REF).
Tinubu also ordered a wider investigation into the conduct of the former management team of REA over “a fraudulent misexpenditure amounting to over N1.2 billion over the past two years”.
According to presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, some of the misappropriated funds have already been recovered by anti-graft agencies.
