By A Special Correspondent
The presidency is yet to deal with the corruption cases which enveloped the National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency (NSRMEA). Allegations of corruption and diversion of public funds running into millions of Naira backed by empirical evidences were contained in a petition sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Director General, Mr. Michael Kolawole Ogunbiyi was reportedly found guilty of all the financial irregularities ranging from the mopping of over N105 million through fake companies and unpaid arrears for staff as approved by the federal government.
A year is gone and Mr. Ogunbiyi has not been charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission who was privy to the petition sent to it since 2023 over the alleged misappropriation and criminal diversion of public funds.
Now that Mr. Ogunbiyi”s tenure is ending this November, there are strong indications that his tenure may be extended for additional six months by the Minister in charge of the agency, in gross violation of extant government’s circulars and binding judicial precedent.
There is the enabling act of the agency 8(1) of 1992 which specifies the Minister’s role and does not include the power to alter tenure. The act contains no provisions for an extension of the Director General’s tenure.
There is also the SGF’s circular of December 2017 which states in clear terms that “chief executives whose tenure is stated in the enabling act or instrument of appointment are “under no circumstances” allowed to exceed the expiration of their tenure.
The SGF’s circular of 28 August, 2019 reference No. SGF/OP/1/S.3/T/39 reinforced the 2017 directive, while the Supreme Court has held that fixed tenures cannot be extended in the landmark case of Senator Rasheed Adewolu vs INEC and others (SC 120/2007). It clearly states that ‘a tenure fixed by law cannot be extended for a single day after its expiration even where the office holder has suffered injustice’.
