After barely three days in the saddle, it turned out Barrister Calistus Nwabueze Obi is not the “most senior officer” at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and hence should not have taken over from Patrick Akpobolokemi as Acting Director General, SHIPS & PORTS DAILY can authoritatively reveal.
Consequently, the most senior officer, the Executive Director Finance and Administration, Baba Haruna Jauro has displaced Obi and has formally assumed the position of NIMASA’s Acting Director General/Chief Executive Officer.
Jauro’s victory did not come easy as he had to formally lodge a protest against the erstwhile DG to the Federal Ministry of Transport and Office of the Head of Service of the Federation.
Curiously, NIMASA has not issued any press release to intimate the public of the new development.
It is still unclear why Akpobolokemi chose to hand over to Obi on Tuesday despite protests by Jauro.
While Obi, Jauro and the Executive Director, Maritime Safety and Shipping Development were all appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan same day – 24th July 2012; Jauro claims his seniority from the fact that he resumed duties at the Maritime House 24 hours ahead of the others.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.