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Real Reasons Over 100 Civic Groups Are Demanding The Removal Of Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency Managing Director, Engineer Salihijo Ahmad.

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Foremost human rights group, the Centre for Promotion of Human Rights in Africa (CPHRA) and its over 100 affiliate organisations, have demanded the immediate removal of the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Engineer Salihijo Ahmad, over his alleged serial breaches of public office and corruption.
The groups threatened to hold a massive protest to press down their demand, saying that the offences committed by Ahmad were so shameful that no serious administration would keep such an officer in office for more than 24 hours.

The President of the group, Comrade Edward Abakpa, who made this known in a statement, said that the protest would be held at the Defence House where the “President-elect”, Bola Tinubu currently stayed ahead of his inauguration on May 29th.
According to Abakpa, Ahmad’s explanation over reports that he awarded contracts worth over N200million to himself did not hold water, adding that it was ridiculous that over 30 bank accounts were reportedly linked to Ahmad.
Abakpa noted that over N2billion of taxpayers’ money have reportedly not been accounted for by the REA while Nigeria has continued to grapple with epileptic power supply.

He stated that “Mr Ahmad is no longer fit to remain in office. His controversial three-year tenure must come to an end.
“This man has turned the REA into a personal business venture where he now awards ‘Consultancy Service’ almost on a weekly basis. These contracts are granted without due process. While the current administration has continued to ignore Ahmad’s sins, we will hold a peaceful protest at the Defence House to call on the President-elect to fire him. Corrupt officials like him will only pollute the new government.
“Over 100 civil society organisations have signalled their interests for this walk. Enough is enough. Ahmad must go.”

 

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Air Peace Partners Boeing, Cranfield University to Drive Safety Excellence in Aviation

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Air Peace, Nigeria’s premier airline and West Africa’s largest carrier, collaborated with The Boeing Company, a leading global aerospace company in the US, and Cranfield University, a specialist postgraduate university in the UK with world-class expertise, large-scale facilities and unrivalled industry partnerships that creates leaders in technology and management globally, to fortify safety culture and operational excellence at Air Peace Limited.
Working under the aegis of Boeing Global Learning Institute (BGLI), and themed: Advanced Leadership in Safety Excellence, the leading global aerospace company brought together all the executives, postholders and management leadership of the various departments of the airline in a five-day in-person classroom training, aimed at improving their safety leadership skills, transform the workplaces’ safety culture, gain practical tools to implement the new knowledge, thus fostering a culture of continuous improvement within the organization.
The partnership between Air Peace and Boeing is borne out of a shared commitment to shaping the future of aviation leadership. Over the years, Air Peace has recognized that a deep, unwavering commitment to safety is key to its continued success. The programme aimed to build upon that vision, enabling executives to lead with confidence, manage risks effectively, and create high-performing teams that prioritize safety at every level.
According to Harry Magui, Senior Organisational Consultant and Programme Manager, Boeing Global Learning Institute, “the Boeing company has long recognised the importance of supporting continuous learning of our aviation partners. To that end, the Boeing Global Learning Institute designs and delivers numerous learning programmes to both emerging and established leaders of our partners. These efforts aim to develop leadership, business, and technical skills so that our partners can improve their business processes, increase operational efficiency and enable leaders to strengthen their teams to ultimately grow their business.’
Alluding to the great work Air Peace has done in making safety a pre-condition rather than just priority, Magui said: “We’re here to partner with our great partner, Air Peace who have been phenomenal in advancing the Aviation Industry in Nigeria, so we are here to support them to harness more opportunities in the future with the Advanced Leadership in Safety Excellence Training for all its top leadership within the organization.”
For Prof Graham Braithwaite, Head of Aerospace, Cranfield University, “This collaboration ensured that the training directly address the challenges Air Peace faces, culminating in real-world capstone projects that would have a lasting impact.”
Reinforcing Prof. Braithwaite’s position, Dr. Fabian Steinmann, Lecturer, Organisational Resilience and Change, Cranfield School of Management, who was excited at the great progress Air Peace made over the years said that they are happy to learn and share knowledge and find ways to strengthen the system, making it robust and flexible to adapt to the ever-changing environment.
“Safety is at the heart of everything we do at Cranfield so the privilege we have is that we travelled around the world, picked up the good practices, learned more about the culture and the operation in various countries so we’re here to facilitate that exchange with Nigeria and Air Peace to see how we share some of the good practices and lessons learned from all around the world and translate them into their operation.”
The programme’s curriculum was carefully crafted to blend theoretical insights with hands-on practical applications. In the first phase, discussions led by Prof. Braithwaite and Dr. Steinmann set the stage by aligning Air Peace leadership’s operational insights with the program’s objectives.
Phase two provided participants with direct access to experts from Cranfield University and Boeing, equipping them with advanced tools and strategies for safety leadership. Beyond the classroom, participants were empowered to implement their learnings within their teams, creating a ripple effect that would strengthen safety systems across the organization.
“This class is quite essential and we’re lucky to have our resource persons impact knowledge on us. It is a well-structured training and especially for Air Peace because of where we are now and where we hope to go in the future. The whole essence of this class is to reinforce what we know before and be exposed to other avenues of learning. The aviation industry is ever-changing and dynamic, and Air Peace has to be abreast of such developments,” says Captain Godfrey Ogbogu, Safety Manager at Air Peace.
He noted that Air Peace’s commitment to safety and operational excellence has never been more evident, adding that the partnership has not only cultivated a deeper understanding of safety leadership but also laid the groundwork for a more resilient, accountable, and innovative workforce, poised to tackle the evolving challenges of the aviation industry.
The programme emphasized accountability through two follow-up review sessions, ensuring that participants continued to develop their leadership skills and advance their safety projects. This dual focus on personal leadership growth and organizational impact ensured that safety remained at the forefront of Air Peace’s operational strategy.

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Edo State Government discovers diverted palliatives in stolen govt vehicle

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Chairman of the committee set up to recover vehicles belonging to the Edo State Government, Kelly Okungbowa, has declared that over 200 vehicles are currently missing.

Okungbowa disclosed that within 24 hours of the committee’s existence, it had recovered three vehicles in a private residence.

The committee chairman, who spoke to journalists on Friday on the success of his committee within 24 hours, said the three vehicles included one Hilux van and two Toyota Hiace buses.

He said some palliatives which should have been shared to Edo people was discovered in one of the Toyota Hiace buses the committee recovered, adding that the palliatives, include bags of garri and rice of 10kg and 25kg.

He appealed for more information from members of the public, saying it was the information earlier obtained that led to the recovery of the three vehicles.

Okungbowa also assured whistleblowers that a handsome reward awaited them provided their information was correct and verifiable.

He said, “We have recovered one Hilux and two Toyota Hiace buses in private custody. We assure Edo people and the state government that we are going to do the job to the best of our ability. We will make sure we recover all the stolen vehicles.

“Report reaching us is that we have over 200 government vehicles missing. We appeal for more information as the whistleblowers will be handsomely rewarded.

“This is not private property but the property of Edo citizens, and it is not good for a private individual to steal government property.

“These vehicles were recovered from one person’s house. Palliatives were recovered from the Toyota Hiace bus as some garri and bags of rice were kept in the bus.”

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EFCC arraigns REA director, Sulieman Garba Bulkwang, for alleged N223.4m fraud

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has arraigned the Director of Human Resources Management of the Rural Electrification Agency, REA, Sulieman Garba Bulkwang before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja for fraud.

In a statement on Friday, the EFCC’s head of media and publicity, Dele Oyewale, said Mr Bulkwang is being prosecuted on a five-count charge, bordering on criminal diversion of funds and money laundering to the tune of N223,412,909.

Count one of his charge reads “That you SULEIMAN GARBA BULKWANG, while being the Director of Human Resources Management of the Rural Electrification Agency, REA within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did counsel one Umaefulem Donatus Chibueze, the Managing Director of Cees Assist Resources and Brainstask Value Resources (consultants to REA) to transfer the sum of N138,123,969 (One Hundred and Thirty eight Million, One Hundred Hundred and Twenty Three Thousand, Nine Hundred and Sixty Nine Naira) out of the sum of N279,330,000.00 (Two Hundred and Seventy Nine Million, Three Hundred and Thirty Thousand Naira) paid to the consultants by REA, when you knew that the said sun of N138,123,969.000000 constituted proceed of unlawful activity and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21 (a) of the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022 and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.”

Count two reads “That you SULEIMAN GARBA BULKWANG while being the Director of Human Resources Management of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) sometime in July, 2023 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court indirectly converted the sum of N45,000,000.00 (Forty Five Milion Naira) being part of the money cumulatively paid to the bank accounts of Dammy Gold Programme Ltd, World Class Business, Green Haven Company And De-Sam Rose – Base Ltd by consultants to REA when you know that the said sum of N45,000.000 .00 constituted proceed of unlawful activity and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(b) (b) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

He pleaded “not guilty” to all the charges after they were read to him and in the absence of defence counsel, prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN prayed the court for a trial date and for the defendant to be remanded in a correctional center.

Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter till February 3, 2024 for the defendant’s bail application and ordered that he be remanded in Kuje Correctional Center.

 

 

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