President Bola Tinubu has suspended the managing director/chief executive officer of Rural Electrification Agency (REA) Ahmad Ahmad and three executive directors of the agency.
Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale made this known in a statement on Thursday.
“In the light of new findings unearthed during a comprehensive investigation into the financial activities of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), President Bola Tinubu has approved the indefinite suspension of the Managing Director/CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, alongside three Executive Directors of the Agency, from office,” the statement read.
“Olaniyi Alaba Netufo — Executive Director, Corporate Services; Barka Sajou — Executive Director, Technical Services; Sa’adatu Balgore — Executive Director, Rural Electrification Fund (REF).
“Furthermore, President Tinubu has ordered a wider investigation into the conduct of the aforementioned officials in a fraudulent misexpenditure amounting to over N1.2 billion over the past two years, some of which has already been recovered by anti-graft agencies.”
Following the suspension, Tinubu appointed five persons to serve in the agency’s new management team in an acting capacity.
They are Abba Aliyu as MD/CEO, Ayoade Gboyega as executive director of corporate services, Umar Umar as executive director of technical services, Doris Uboh as the executive director of Rural Electrification Fund (REF) and Olufemi Akinyelure as the head of project management unit, Nigeria Electrification Project.
Tinubu asked the new appointees to uphold the highest standards of transparency and accountability in the discharge of their duties.
