The Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party have condemned the appointment of the ex-aide of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and self-acclaimed whistleblower, Michael Achimugu, as the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection in Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority.
Achimugu was named in the list of 46 new directors announced on Thursday by the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, for the aviation agencies.
The name of Achimugu featured prominently during the electioneering campaign and the build-up to the 2023 presidential poll where he accused his former boss of allegedly stealing public funds through ‘Special Purpose Vehicles.’
The defiant whistleblower also claimed he was privy to how the former number two citizen laundered public money through the SPV.
A special purpose vehicle has been described as a type of business arrangement that allows companies to operate a subsidiary with independence from the parent company to mitigate financial risk.
To back up his claim, Achimugu allegedly further supplied audio clips and other documents.
The accusations and counter-accusations reached a crescendo on January 16 when the now-dissolved Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council held a world press conference in Abuja to amplify the controversy by calling on security agencies to apprehend the former VP.
Addressing journalists, one of the PCC spokesmen, Dele Alake, who is now the Minister of Solid Mineral, stated that the PDP presidential candidate deserved to be arrested following concrete evidence that he abused his office as vice president from 1999 to 2007.
But seven months after the inauguration of President Bola Tinubu, the Achimugu has bagged an appointment in the new administration.
Condemning the appointment, the Peoples Democratic Party expressed shock, saying the ruling APC government has shown no regard for integrity and the consciousness of the Nigerian people.
In an exclusive interview with PUNCH Online, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Ibrahim Abdullahi, alleged that the level of impunity with which the APC president operates has also been reflected in how Keyamo went about the appointments.
He said, “It is good that Nigerians are seeing the level of desperation in the APC. In our position as the opposition party, the PDP condemns it in totality. We have articulated in our manifesto long in the build-up to the election campaign that anything to do with Bola Tinubu and the APC is taking Nigeria to the Stone Age.
“Achimugu was not a politician but a whistleblower. Now they have ignored other people in Nigeria who are more deserving of the appointment legitimately to bring someone who they want to silence because of his defectiveness in the job he was doing.
“They want to ensure nobody is spoken to or heard. We also saw it last week in the president and commander-in-chief calling a state governor (Sim Fubara) who was elected like him to work with some itemised conditionalities in his state as if we are not running a federation.
The appointment of Achimugu is a condemned development in Nigeria as we have always said. It is something we view with a lot of suspicion. We can already see the hand of Esau and can predict the outcome. It is intended to silence people and continues with the emasculation of voices of dissent against the constitutional order and the rule of law. There has to be an end to this reign of impunity. Otherwise, we will wake up one day and realise there is no future for our children.”
Sharing the same sentiment, the Chief Spokesman of the Labour Party, Yunusa Tanko, alleged that transparency and accountability were being sacrificed by the current government for nepotism and impunity.
Tanko said it was such a development that keeps driving frustrated Nigerians out of the country, saying it was obvious Achimugu was given the new appointment as a form of reward.
“It is unfortunate. This government is paying those they have used to malign others. That is why this country is in a precarious and dangerous situation today. These people have refused to play the game of politics with dignity and integrity. They play it and also weaponise the judiciary against the common people. They have devised a means of paying those they contracted to do their bidding with appointments. This is exactly what is happening.
“What we even find absurd is the level of impunity with which they are doing it, without caring whose ox is gored. As long as they get what they want, they don’t about the consequences. Sadly, it seems to be getting out of hand.
“For as long as Nigerians keep getting quiet over this sort of thing, they will always get away with it,” he said.
When contacted, a legal practitioner and spokesman for the Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign Council, Daniel Bwala, stated that nothing in the new administration surprises him anymore.
He said, “If they like, they can make Achimigu the president of Nigeria, I don’t care. Keyamo allegedly has successfully rewarded a blackmailer with the appointment as one of the directors of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Agency, over and above.
“What can you say when he was an emergency Asiwaju supporter? He will make appointments for emergency supporters so that when they all leave Asiwaju later it will be emergency exits.”
Efforts to get the reactions of the minister and his media aide, Oluseyi Odutayo were unsuccessful. They neither pick up nor return the calls of our correspondent.
As of the time of filing this story, both read the Whatsapp message sent for them to justify Achimugu’s new appointment without replying.
Meanwhile, the aviation ministry has released a statement announcing that Achimugu has officially assumed office as the director of the aviation agency.
The statement, obtained by our correspondent on Saturday, was signed by NCAA head of public relations, Carol Adekotujo.
She said, “The new Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Michael Achimugu has assumed office.
In the political arena, he made history as the first and only Nigerian to act as a Media Consultant for multiple presidential candidates in a single election cycle, including serving as media director for the Atiku Campaign Organisation and later as a Media Consultant for Kingsley Moghalu’s Presidential Campaign.
“Before he was appointed a Director on the 22nd of December, 2023, he served as the Special Assistant, Customer Relations to the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Fetsus Keyamo. Before he was appointed, he was first appointed Special Assistant, Media to the minister.”