The federal government has dismissed the managing director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, from his duties.
Together with five other directors, Yadudu was fired from his role as an agency director on Friday after The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari had appointed him MD in 2019.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kabir Yusuf Mohammed has been selected to act as the new managing director of the FAAN and is expected to begin work next week.
The newly appointed FAAN haad formerly held the position of North Central Regional General Manager at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport where he was selected in January 2022, by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, to serve as Chairman of the Aviation Roadmap Implementation Committee.
He successfully combined this role with his office as General Manager, Special Duties at FAAN.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the top regulator of civil aviation, has also experienced a wave of senior staff resignations.
Industry sources suggested that the mass resignation was caused by the Ministry of Aviation’s shady moves to change the laws so that the contentious national airline, Nigeria Air, could launch before May 29, 2023.
The source claimed that the NCAA is being pressured by the Ministry of Aviation to waive several regulations in order to get the contentious carrier airborne before the administration leaves office in less than nine days.
Other important members of the Airworthiness Directorate may also announce their retirement by Monday, according to sources.
Stakeholders in the aviation sector have urged Hadi Sirika, to make a lasting impression by appointing senior directors to lead the agencies.
In a statement, the coordinator of the group, Comrade Fidelis Anazie, encouraged the minister to make honorable selections in an effort to atone for past wrongs.
Part of the statement read: “We have been watching with keen interest the way appointments were being made in our highly regarded sector, but we are yet to get it right, we ask Senator Sirika to select the candidates from the agencies and appoint them immediately without consulting outside sources because these appointments are long overdue.”
