The reappointment of Hadiza Bala Usman as the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority for a new five years tenure has generated controversy as some maritime stakeholders and experts have dragged President Muhammadu Buhari to court over the decision.
The president had on January 21, 2021, reappointed Usman as NPA MD for a new tenure, six months before the expiration of her first five-year tenure.
The stakeholders based their disagreement on the alleged contravention of the statutory provisions of the NPA Act and Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the President.
They also argued that the premature tenure extension would set a fertile ground for litigation, as the action was illegal, wrongful, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
The court documents obtained by SaharaReporters with Elder Asu Beks, Mr Tompra Abarowei, and Mr Miebi Senge as the Plaintiffs, and the President, the Minister of Transport, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, and Mr Emmanuell Adesoye, as the defendants.
The plaintiffs held that the newly constituted Board of NPA has no Representative of the Ministry of Transportation as enshrined in the statutes of the NPA Act.
The group raised the following questions for determination:
“Whether the 1st defendant in the discharge of his statutory duties has the vires under Section 2 and 10 of the NPA Act to lawfully and prematurely re-appoint the 3rd defendant to her position as the Managing Director of the NPA six clear months before the expiration of her existing tenure of office.
“Whether the acts of the 1st defendant in the appointment and composition of the NPA Board are not illegal, wrongful, unlawful, unconscionable, null and void, and of no effect whatsoever.
“Consequently, the group is seeking the following reliefs from the court; one, a declaration that the act of the 1st defendant in purporting to re-appoint and/or extend the tenure of office of the 3rd Defendant as the NPA Managing Director six months from the expiration of her present tenure is in contravention of the provisions of Sections 2 and 10 of the NPA Act, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and thereby renders same unlawful, wrongful, illegal, null and void, and of no effect whatsoever.
“A declaration that the 1st Defendant lacks the authority, vires and power to prematurely re-appoint and extend the tenure of office of the 3rd Defendant as the Managing Director of the NPA six (6) clear months to the expiration of the said tenure.
“A declaration that the appointment of and composition of the new Board of the NPA as announced by the President on 21st January, 2021, is in blatant violation of the express provisions of Section 2 of the NPA Act, as the Act does not contemplate the composition of the Board based on geopolitical zones.”