NAPTIP DG in appointment qualification scandal, board chairman denies being aware DG not qualified

The Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has come under the social microscope scrutinizing his qualification for the job. The scrutiny is generating scandal and uneasiness on the appointment recently made by President Muhammadu Buhari.

As the controversy rages on, Board Chairman of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Abubakar Gotomo, denied awareness that the DG is not qualified for the appointment. He was said to have expressed that he expected the right thing must have been done in the appointment of Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim as NAPTIP Director General.

Abubakar Gotomo had in a media interaction said he didn’t know Mrs. Sulaiman-Ibrahim is unqualified for the DG of NAPTIP. he noted that she was recommended for the appointment by the Minister, adding that the federal government might have made the right decision. He was cited to have said: “I do not know she is not qualified.

“The government must have made the right decision. The recommendation is made by the honourable minister, and I want to believe that the right thing must have been done.”

It was highlighted that the law that established NAPTIP prescribed the appointment of the Director General must be from the directorate cadre of the public service.

The NAPTIP Board Chairman, Abubakar Gotomo, was gathered to have declared his support for the newly appointed Director-General, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim

A spotlight indicated that Mrs. Sulaiman-Ibrahim has never been a public servant but a politician and businesswoman. Mrs. Sulaiman-Ibrahim was said to be political appointee to a minister of state on education.

Mrs. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim being the Chief Executive Officer of NAPTIP, is also Secretary to NAPTIP’s governing board, comprising 11 members appointed by the president.

Expanded members of NAPTIP governing board as the Act provides include two representatives from civil society organizations engaged in advocacy on  trafficking in persons: an official in the directorate cadre in each of the ministries of justice, women affairs, labour and productivity, the Nigeria Police Force, National Intelligence Agency, Nigeria Immigration Service, and National Planning Commission.

It was disclosed that other members of the current board include Anne Akwiwu, Idris Mohammed, Dorcas Ajiboye, Adebola Longe, Ntia Thompson, Joshua Akor, Sani Ismail, Wunti Sule, and I. A. Nworgu.