MIT Professor Turns Down Buhari’s Appointment as NERC Chairman for Lack of Consultation

Professor Akintunde Akinwande of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States may have rejected his nomination as the chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).  Akinwande was reportedly not consulted before being named as NERC chairman.

The absence of the MIT professor stalled proceedings at the senate session on Tuesday where 7 persons nominated to the board of the NERC were scheduled to be screened, reports The Nation.

In a list of nominees circulated by the Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, records of date of birth, qualification, specialisation, experience and certificate of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) were missing in Akinwande’s column.

A source within the Senate cited by the media house hinted that Akinwande was currently working on a project at MIT where he works as a professor of electrical engineering and computer science.

“We also learnt that enough consultation was not made before the man was nominated. We were informed that the nominee may have turned down his nomination,” the source said.

The source added that Akinwande also failed to present himself to the Department of State Services (DSS) for security checks.

Chairman of the Committee Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe told newsmen that it was impossible to proceed with the senate screening in the absence of the person nominated as NERC chairman.

“Regrettably, when members of the committee assembled to screen the nominees made by President Muhammadu Buhari, we were told that the chairman designate was unavoidably absent. The Presidential liaison who brought the nominees informed us that the chairman was unavoidably absent,” Abaribe said.

Other nominees for the board appointment included  Sanusi Garuba (Vice Chairman), Nathan R. Shatti (commissioner), Dr. Moses Arigu (commissioner), Dafe C. Akpeneye (commissioner), Prof. Frank Okafor(commissioner) and Musiliu O. Oseni(commissioner).

Professor Akinwande would not be the first person to complain about lack of consultation by the Buhari administration before an appointment.

In February, Ms Najatu Muhammed publicly rejected her appointment as the chairperson of the governing council of the Dutse Federal University as she was not informed before her name was announced in the media.

Much more recently, Mrs Pauline Tallen, a former Plateau state deputy governor cited lack of consultation as one of her reasons for rejecting her nomination as an ambassador.

Governors elected on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform also complained they were not carried along in the process, even though their claims may be perceived as more self-seeking than altruistic.

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