Concern about the delay in the appointment of the President of the Raw Materials Council

The Federal Government’s failure to fill the vacant post of Director General/Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) is causing concern.

While some unions accuse the agency’s immediate former DG/CEO, Professor Hussaini Ibrahim, of refusing to leave his post despite the expiry of his term on April 7, 2024, he has insisted that he has since resigned from the position and handed it over to the most senior administrative official in the agency .

The Guardian reports that while Ibrahim served his first term from April 7, 2014 to April 7, 2019, he was reappointed in 2019 for a second and final five-year term, which expired on April 7, 2024.

It was further established that trade unionists had threatened fire and brimstone over their failure to appoint his successor.

In a petition filed by the Union of Academic Staff of Research Institutions (ASURI) sent to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, the union urged Ibrahim to hand over the position to the most senior administrative officer in the agency and vacate the position immediately.

It threatened to picket the agency and mobilize its members to go on strike if illegality continued.

Petition signed by the Secretary General of ASURI, prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku, was dated April 16, 2024 and numbered ASN/SGF/RMRDC/0424/01.

According to Ndubuaku, DG RMRDC’s refusal to transfer and vacate the position violates section 2.1.2(d)(ii) of the Conditions of Service for Federal Research Agencies, Institutes and Universities (COS 2019) as well as the circular issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) dated December 2024 r.

The petition was titled: “Report of gross abuse of public service process by Professor Husaini Ibrahim, whose second and final term as Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has ended but has refused to vacate his post in accordance with applicable regulations.” .

The petition reads: “We are assured that instead of handing over and vacating the position, Professor Ibrahim simply closed the DG office at the RMRDC headquarters in Maitama and moved to the council’s external headquarters located at the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) along the road Musa Yar’Adua expressway in Lugbe, from where he continues to serve as DG, authorizing payments and performing other executive functions.

However, in his reaction, RMRDC Corporate Services Director Chukwuma Ngaha denied the allegations, saying the DG had resigned.