N32m annual salary: Group urges Buhari to probe of Abba Kyari over daughter’s secret appointment

The Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance, (CACOBAG) has demanded President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately order an investigation into the appointment of Ms. Aisha Abba Kyari, daughter of the Chief of Staff to the President, as an Assistant Vice President at the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

CACOBAG Chairman, Alhaji Toyin Raheem, had in a statement in Abuja argued that Aisha Kyari’s appointment is controversial “because it violates set procedure at the NSIA, which is the legally constituted agency that manages Nigeria’s excess crude oil revenues.”

Alhaji Raheem had protested: “The position was not publicly advertised, contrary to what is expected of such position. Besides, Aisha Abba Kyari clearly does not meet the criteria for the role. She has just five years working experience at the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) where she worked up until February 2019 when she got the NSIA job.

“Her appointment is the highest level in the organization, whereas the average working experience for that level is 10 years. We are by this statement giving the Presidency notice that we shall commence series of lawful civil actions in a matter of days to compel the Buhari administration to order a comprehensive investigation of this employment scam.

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“If it could be done in Pension Commission because the daughter of a member of the House of Representatives is involved, it should also be done at NSIA because what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.”

The CACOBAG Chairman argued that such practice at the highest level of government contravened the avowed posture of the Buhari’s administration.

“More disturbing is the report that the controversial appointment followed some arm-twisting and back deals with the top management of NSIA. Equally disturbing is the revelation that the new employee is starting up with an annual package of N32 million. We have chosen to call for a thorough investigation of this case because a similar thing happened in Pension Commission recently, and at the end of the probe, those involved were relieved of their job.

“Five days after the Abba Kyari employment scandal leaked in the media, neither the Presidency nor the management of NSIA has deemed it fit to deny any of the claims,” Raheem was said to have protested.

The group noted that NSIA staffers were angry over the appointment, while a few of the high-level personnel privy to the recruitment initially refused to interview Ms. Abba-Kyari.

CACOBAG indicated that one of the persons who had objected to the interview is an Executive Director, Stella Ojekwe-Onyejeli, who vehemently opposed the appointment.

The Executive Director was said to have been allegedly arm twisted into playing along as the pending confirmation of her appointment to become a second term Executive Director became an instrument of blackmail. Raheem observed that her appointment was eventually confirmed sometime in March 2019 after she agreed, while Halima Buba, a Board member at the NSIA who was also invited to observe the interview process, reportedly refused to take part.

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“Despite all these, Ms Aisha Abba Kyari has since resumed. “This is not the first time the Buhari government is involved in a secret recruitment scandal involving relatives of highly placed persons in his cabinet. A similar one occurred at the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2017 involving children of some cabinet ministers and a nephew of the President.” Raheem declared.