Suspended MD, NPA, Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman

In the aftermath of the suspension of Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman as Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority NPA, and the inauguration of an investigative panel to look into the books during her tenure, both the mainstream and the social media have been awash with several conjectures about the action of the government.

Reasons for her suspension as presented to the public by some apparent hirelings include, but not limited to the following:

*A witch hunt by the Minister of Transport Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi because the suspended Managing Director allegedly refused to compromise on certain interests and demands by the Minister.

*Personal differences between Hadiza Bala Usman and Gbemisola Saraki, the Minister of State for Transport who directly supervises the NPA.

*That Hadiza stepped on toes of some powerful business interests in certain actions she took while on the saddle, among other claims.

However, to a dispassionate observer, what is going on at the NPA suggest that she is the architect of her current ‘fortune’.

Having become the first female to occupy the office of Chief of Staff to an elected Governor in Nigeria, before assuming office as first female MD of the authority in its over 50 years of existence, she apparently got carried away and was misguided in most of her actions. It is her seemingly obsession with the tag “first” (to get a renewal of tenure) that made her hoodwink Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Chief of Staff to President Mohammadu Buhari, to misrepresent to the President for his approval, a renewal of her tenure, six clear months before expiration. This is the first of such action in any parastatal or agency of government in Nigeria. Considered illegal by respected legal minds, that action is now a subject of an avoidable litigation against the Buhari administration.

Recall that two years into her tenure, the office of the Auditor General of the Federation had issued a damning report on the expenditures of the NPA, requesting huge refunds by the approving authority, (Hadiza) for several financial malfeasances.

In fact, the recent testimony by Senator Binta Garba, erstwhile NPA board member, who represented Adamawa North at Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber between 2015 and 2019 pointedly accused Hadiza Bala Usman of orchestrating her removal from the NPA board because she consistently identified several abuses in the finances of the authority which she complained about several times, all to the chagrin of the suspended Managing Director.

In fact, if the investigative panel glean carefully the Authority’s books, it will uncover among other things:

*multiple cases of over inflation of contracts,

*contract splitting,

*Arbitrary employment, and staff promotions without following due process,

*Abuse of Corporate Social Responsibility CSR projects running into billions of naira.

Unbridled expenditures on media tourism to create the false impression of effectiveness and efficiency.

*The most recent of waste in the authority under Hadiza was the introduction of the electronic call-up system for trucks. A project that has failed in spite of the enormous amount it has gulped so far.

Beyond all the above allegations, Hadiza’s level of high handedness is legendary. Executive Directors and General Managers hardly had access to her office even for official matters.

Funny as this may appear, Hadiza cherished the nomenclature of “Mama” even by persons old enough to sire her. Neither would she countenance official documents without the appellation of “Mama” or “Ma”!

With her penchant for insubordination, the rumoured attempt to force her reinstatement would be a return of the dragon to finish perceived “enemies”, plus the drama of legal entanglements arising from the controversial renewal of her tenure!