Buhari sacks Director-General for Budgeting, other 26 DGs

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday removed the Director-General for Budget  budget, Mr Yaya Gusau over controversy surrounding 2016 and replaced him immediately with Mr. Tijjani Abdullahi.

The President also  appointed Mr. Ben Akabueze as the Special Adviser to the President on National Planning, and the former member of House of Representatives, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa as his Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora.

Also on Monday, the President sacked heads of 26 federal parastatals, agencies and commissions. The Secretary yo the Federal Government, Babachir Lawal, in a statement said those affected in the game of sack include head of the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA; Mr. Sola Omole; heads of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN; Voice of Nigeria, VON; News Agency of Nigeria, NAN ; National Broadcasting Commission, NBC and the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF.

Others are heads of New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD; Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF; Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB; Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, FMBN; Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund; National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA and the Petroleum Equalization Fund, Nigeria Railways Corporation, NRC; Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP; Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE; Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA; Standard Organisation of Nigeria, SON; National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC; Nigeria Investment Promotion Council, NIPC; Bank of Industry, BoI; National Centre for Women Development, NCWD; National Orientation Agency, NOA; Industrial Training Fund, ITF; Nigerian Export-Import Bank as well as the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic In Persons and Other Related Matters, NAPTIP.

Meanwhile the President directed the most senior officers in the parastatals, agencies and commissions to oversee the activities of the organisations pending the appointment of substantive Chief Executive Officers.

A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina said the new DG Budget, Mr. Abdullahi, "is a fellow of the Certified National Accountants of Nigeria, and a banker of repute with experience in managing public finance, who will now replace the current Director-General (Budget), Mr. Yahaya Gusau. The new Director-General of Budget is expected to work with the Minister of Budget and National Planning to efficiently deliver on the mandates of the Budget Office of the Federation.

President Buhari has also approved the appointment of Mr Akabueze as the Special Adviser to the President on National Planning. Akabueze, the immediate past Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos State, has worked in senior management positions in Citi Bank, Fidelity Bank, United Bank for Africa, NAL Merchant Bank, Sterling Bank and BIA Consulting Limited, among others. He is Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers; Fellow, Institute of Credit Administrators."