Leadership Crisis at BCDA: Delay in Appointment Letter for Tinubu’s Choice

Three weeks after President Bola Tinubu announced Dr Abdulrazak Namdas as the new Director-General of the Border Communities Development Agency, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, is said to be holding back his appointment letter.

This situation has sparked a leadership crisis at the agency. The former head, Dakorinama George, is still performing his official duties while the implementation of the presidential directive is stuck.

On June 26, the Presidency announced Namdas’s appointment, who was previously a spokesperson for the House of Representatives. The announcement was made through a statement from the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

The statement clearly stated that Namdas was taking over from George, who resigned to run for an elective position in his home state. It also mentioned that the appointment took immediate effect.

"President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Abdulrazak Sa’ad Namdas as the new Director-General of the Border Communities Development Agency.

"Dr Namdas replaces Dr Dakorinama Alabo George, who resigned to contest for an elective post in his home state.

"President Tinubu also announced the appointment of Hon. Patrick Obahiagbon as the Executive Director of Strategy and Commercial for the Niger Delta Power Holding Company.

"President Tinubu also reappointed Mr Chukwuma Umeoji as Executive Director of Corporate Services of the NDPHC. The appointment took immediate effect," the statement read in part.

But over three weeks after the announcement, Sunday PUNCH found out that Namdas has not started work because the formal letter confirming the President’s decision has not been released.

Further checks showed that George is still in the office, leading official activities and representing the agency at high-level government meetings.

One notable instance was on Thursday, July 9, when George met with Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, in Abuja. They discussed getting funds for BCDA projects.

A detailed report of the meeting was shared on Facebook by ‘Port Harcourt Force’, a news platform from Rivers State, where George was repeatedly referred to as the “Executive Secretary” of the agency.

"During the meeting, George congratulated the minister on his appointment and appealed for timely releases of budgetary allocations for ongoing infrastructure projects across Nigeria’s border communities," the statement said.

George also told the minister that BCDA had facilitated a proposed $2 billion Chinese investment for a livestock processing hub in Maigatari, Jigawa State. He mentioned working with security agencies to set up a Border Communities Intelligence Corps.

This situation has raised new questions about who really has the authority over the agency.

APC chieftain, Hamman Yero, claimed the delay is due to the SGF not sending the President’s appointment.

In an interview on Trust TV, which Sunday PUNCH monitored, Yero asked why Namdas had not received his appointment letter despite the public announcement from the Presidency.

"This is a mandate given to the President by Nigerians. On whose mandate is the SGF acting?" he questioned.

"If the President directs that Namdas should be appointed and the SGF keeps the appointment letter without releasing it, then serious constitutional and administrative questions arise," he added.

Yero argued that presidential appointments should usually go from presidential approval to the issuance of letters through the Office of the SGF.

"It is the Chief of Staff who normally sends presidential approvals to the SGF for implementation. Is the Chief of Staff aware that Namdas has still not received his appointment letter? If he wasn’t aware before, he certainly should be aware now," he said.

Yero also dismissed claims that George’s appointment had been restored. He said the ongoing uncertainty raises bigger issues about following presidential directives.

The BCDA issue reminds many of a previous leadership dispute at the Nigerian Postal Service in October 2023. President Tinubu announced Tola Odeyemi as the new Postmaster-General and Chief Executive Officer, removing Sunday Adepoju.

Just three days later, NIPOST said Adepoju had been reinstated, causing confusion about who was in charge of the postal agency.

The situation worsened when workers locked the agency’s headquarters in Abuja and resisted Odeyemi’s entry. This was resolved when the Presidency confirmed Tinubu’s appointment of Odeyemi, who took office on October 16, 2023, while Adepoju left the position.

Sources close to the BCDA said George never fully stepped down after announcing his resignation to pursue the APC governorship ticket in Rivers State.

A senior official from the agency, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed George quietly returned to the agency after losing the primary election.

"He resigned to contest the governorship. After losing, he simply returned and resumed activities without any formal handover," the source claimed.

The source also said George still has strong political support within the administration.

The official claimed George's ongoing presence is allegedly supported by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who he worked under as Commissioner for Works during Wike’s time as Rivers State governor.

"It was Wike who nominated him for the BCDA appointment in 2024. That relationship explains why he has remained influential despite his resignation," the source said.

Sunday PUNCH could not verify the claims linking the minister to this situation.

One of Wike’s allies dismissed the claim as "mere insinuation."

"Wike is also an appointee of the President and he cannot have such powers," the ally said.

Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, told Sunday PUNCH that the President’s decision stands.

"As far as I know, the President has not changed his mind. Namdas remains the Executive Secretary of the agency.

"All these things they are talking about, they don’t know what they are talking about. The President has not changed his mind about the appointment of Namdas as the head of that border agency," Onanuga said.

When asked why Namdas had not started work weeks after the announcement, Onanuga said the SGF’s office is responsible for issuing the formal appointment letter.

"His appointment has been communicated to the Office of the SGF, so the SGF has to give him a letter," he explained.

Yet, Onanuga did not comment on why the letter had not been issued or if the Presidency had asked the SGF about the delay.

Christopher Ugwuegbulam, the Head of the Information and Public Relations Department in the SGF's office, said an official response would come after receiving a formal letter from our correspondent.

"What I normally prefer is for you to write to us and we would sit down to give you a response," he said.

When asked, the Special Adviser to the SGF on Media and Publicity, Mr Yomi Odunuga, said he had no information about the issue.

Efforts to get George’s reaction were unsuccessful. He did not answer calls or respond to messages sent to him.

Constitutional lawyer Suraj Bamidele told one of our correspondents that the President has the constitutional power to appoint and remove heads of federal agencies.

"In the BCDA case, the issue is no longer simply who the President appointed. It is whether there is a clear and enforceable system for ensuring that presidential appointments are carried out across government institutions.

"When an appointment is announced by the Presidency but its implementation is delayed or disputed, it creates legal uncertainty that can affect the validity of administrative decisions taken during that time," he said.

Public affairs analyst Sunday Awosika said if this situation is confirmed, it raises serious governance issues.

"This allegation is a very bad commentary for our country. We have yet to conclude discussions surrounding the controversy over the alleged Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, and now another issue has emerged regarding compliance with presidential appointments," he said.

"I think the President needs to rein in some officials because there are established mechanisms for managing government agencies. It will be difficult to understand how someone whose resignation was accepted can continue to function in that office," he added.

Analyst Abdulrasaq Rasheed said this event, along with others recently exposed, shows a lack of coordination in running the government.

"For me, the role of the Chief of Staff is different from the SGF. The CoS acts like a private secretary to the appointor, be it the Head of State or Governor.

"All correspondence about appointments should go through the SGF’s office because it coordinates the MDAs. How then do you think this won’t happen? The SGF is only being ‘matured’, otherwise there would have been a clash of personalities because of the overlap, whether deliberate or not, that has been happening," he said.

The African Democratic Congress has called on President Tinubu to resign if he can no longer control his administration. They claim recent controversies surrounding federal appointments show that the President’s directives are not being followed.

The opposition party urged the National Assembly to use its constitutional oversight powers to check if the President can effectively perform his duties. This was part of a statement from the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi.

The ADC argued that the BCDA issue is not an isolated case but part of a troubling pattern of confusion over presidential appointments and executive authority.

They also mentioned the controversy around the alleged Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, calling it a “phantom” body that reportedly operates at high levels of government despite questions about its legal existence.

According to the ADC, these ongoing controversies raise serious concerns about whether the President still has control over one of his key powers: appointing and removing public officials.

The party stated, "If the reports about the BCDA are true, then this is no longer just about one disputed appointment. It is about something more disturbing: who is actually in charge of the Nigerian Presidency?"

"When a President announces the appointment of one person and another ignores that directive and continues in office, we are not just seeing administrative confusion. We are witnessing a struggle for control of the Presidency itself.

"These events show a Presidency that is losing control over one of the fundamental powers of government: the constitutional authority to appoint and remove public officers."