Why I resigned from NAHCO FTZ — Former MD, Yusuf

A former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) Free Trade Zone, Mr Baba Yusuf, has said he resigned from the company because he found evidence of economic sabotage with the board not ready to implement reforms.

In an interview in Abuja on Thursday, Yusuf said he noticed that NAHCO FTZ breached some rules and regulations governing free trade zone operations as stipulated by the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA).

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He said the location of the zone in the international airport left loopholes for smuggling of contraband and security breaches in areas where aircraft are parked.

“There was a limit to which I could push for things to happen. Knowing that there are dire consequences of continuously allowing these to happen either to me or to the country; knowing that I was limited in terms of the enablement to ensure these things are contained, the best thing was for me to leave or to play along and in this case, I took the earlier decision, to leave,” he said.

After he resigned, Yusuf said he petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari and copied 25 government agencies on issues bothering on corruption, wastages, national security and economic sabotage by the firm.

“Months later, when I recalled the arrest of Zainab Aliyu, a young girl that was arrested in Saudi Arabia with drugs and some of the people that planted the drugs in her bags were NAHCO staff operating in Kano, realising this was serious, I wrote the petition.”

The NAHCO board had in October during a press briefing dismissed claims of wrongdoing and indebtedness to Yusuf.

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Olatokunbo Fagbemi said Yusuf was not owed N125 million severance fund but that NAHCO seeks N250,000 refund from Yusuf.

She also explained that the firm never engaged in any of the wrong doing alleged by Yusuf, adding that the case was before the court.

Reports show that the national Assembly commenced hearing on the petition this year and that case comes up for hearing at a Lagos high court next week.