FG denies setting up panel on board appointments

The Federal Government has denied setting up any panel to reconstitute boards of parastatals.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Dr George Akume, made this known in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja.

Daily Trust reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on June 19, approved the dissolution of all federal government parastatals, agencies, institutions, and government-owned companies in the exercise of its Constitutional Powers and in the Public interest.

The dissolution does not, however, affect Boards, Commissions and Councils listed in the Third Schedule, Part 1, Section 153 (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

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There was, however, a media report (not Daily Trust) that the federal government constituted an ad-hoc committee on the development.

Denying the report, the SGF in the Sunday statement signed by Willie Bassey, Director of Information, in his office, said that there is no truth in the story as the government has not set up any ad-hoc committee as alleged to review the resumes of individuals who would fill such board appointments as stated in the said publication.

“The visit of the two former governors of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu and Jigawa State, Abubakar Badaru, to his office on Friday had nothing to do with such ad-hoc committee. It has everything to do with their recent appointment as ministers.

“Also, the reporter inaccurately quoted the spokesperson of the OSGF as indicating that 14 agencies were stipulated to have been exempted. Whereas, the release in question at the time only received the President’s approval for two agencies- National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration & Control (NAFDAC).

“In order to avoid inaccurate reporting, SGF admonishes media personnel to always cross-check information directly from authorized persons in his office rather than depending on some social media reports which may be inaccurate,” the statement said.