President Bola Tinubu has suspended the Managing Director/CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad.
Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, confirmed the suspension in a statement on Thursday.
He added that the President also suspended three executive directors of the agency.
“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.
“Olaniyi Alaba Netufo — Executive Director, Corporate Services; Barka Sajou — Executive Director, Technical Services; Sa’adatu Balgore — Executive Director, Rural Electrification Fund (REF).
“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,” the statement read.
Following the suspension, Tinubu appointed five qualified Nigerians to serve in the agency’s new management team in an acting capacity.
They are Abba Abubakar Aliyu as Managing Director/CEO, Ayoade Gboyega as Executive Director of Corporate Services, Umar Abdullahi 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.
The new appointees were asked to uphold the highest standards of transparency and accountability in the discharge of their duties.