President Bola Tinubu has suspended the Managing Director/CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, alongside three Executive Directors of the Agency, due to new findings that were unearthed during a comprehensive investigation into the financial activities of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
The three suspended Executive 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).
The suspension was confirmed in a statement by presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, on Thursday.
The statement also revealed that the President has ordered a wider investigation into the conduct of the aforementioned officials, who are alleged to have engaged in fraudulent misexpenditure amounting to over N1.2 billion over the past two years, some of which has already been recovered by anti-graft agencies.
Following the suspension, Tinubu appointed five qualified Nigerians to serve in the agency’s new management team in an acting capacity. Abba Abubakar Aliyu was appointed as Managing Director/CEO, Ayoade Gboyega as Executive Director of Corporate Services, Umar Abdullahi Umar as Executive Director of Technical Services, Doris Uboh as the Executive Director of Rural Electrification Fund (REF) and Olufemi Akinyelure as the Head of Project Management Unit, Nigeria Electrification Project.
The President urged the new appointees to uphold the highest standards of transparency and accountability in the discharge of their duties and reiterated his determination to elevate the yearnings of Nigerians for good governance and qualitative service delivery above the narrow interests of individuals who are entrusted to provide critical services to the Nigerian people.
