President Bola Tinubu has appointed Michael Achimugu, a former aide of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, as a director at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA.In Case You Missed It
Shortly before the 2023 general elections, Achimugu had accused his former boss, Atiku, of corruption and gross financial impropriety using Special Purpose Vehicles to commit financial fraud.
Achimugu alleged that he was motivated to take on his former boss because he wanted to educate Nigerians and dissuade them from voting for Atiku as president.
“There are basically two reasons which I have repeated over and over on social media. First is that young persons like myself who served politicians will never again be taken for granted. Second, it is to warn Nigerians and educate them before the elections to prevent them from making the greatest mistake ever,” he said.
“If Nigerians think that they have seen corruption before, let them wait until they make the mistake of voting the Atiku family into office.”
Achimugu’s allegations prompted the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, who was the spokesperson of the APC presidential campaign council, to call for the arrest of Atiku.
In a petition dated 16 January, the minister asked the anti-graft agencies to arrest the former vice president on offences of money laundering, breach of the Code of Conduct Act, conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust and misappropriation.
He even filed a suit seeking an order of the court to compel the Code Of Conduct Bureau, CCB, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and ICPC to invite or arrest Atiku.
He asked the court to order the agencies to investigate and prosecute Atiku based on the claims contained in the affidavit deposed to by Achimugu.
The suit was however thrown out by the Federal High Court in Abuja. The judge, James Omotosho, dismissed the suit at the preliminary stage for being frivolous, and awarded a total of N10 million against Keyamo.
The judge ordered Keyamo to pay N5 million to each of Atiku and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC.
The court also added a 10 per cent interest rate per annum until full liquidation of same.
The judge dismissed Keyamo’ suit after upholding the preliminary objection filed against the suit by Atiku’s lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, also a SAN, and ICPC’s lawyer, Oluwakemi Odogun.
He ruled that the suit was frivolous, vexatious and constituted an abuse of court process.
But he assumed office on Friday as the new NCAA Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, barely a week after Tinubu approved the removal of all the directors of agencies in the aviation ministry amidst an ongoing effort to revamp the country’s aviation sector to ensure a safe and efficient air travel experience for Nigerians.
Earlier on Thursday, the president had approved the appointment of new directors for five agencies under the ministry.
Achimugu made the list of the newly appointed directors of the NCAA.
On Saturday, Carol Adekotujo, NCAA’s head of public relations, in a statement announced that Achimugu has assumed office at the NCAA office in Abuja.
Before his new appointment, Achimugu served as the Special Assistant on Customer Relations and Special Assistant on Media to Mr Keyamo.
President Bola Tinubu has appointed Michael Achimugu, a former aide of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, as a director at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA.In Case You Missed It
Shortly before the 2023 general elections, Achimugu had accused his former boss, Atiku, of corruption and gross financial impropriety using Special Purpose Vehicles to commit financial fraud.
Achimugu alleged that he was motivated to take on his former boss because he wanted to educate Nigerians and dissuade them from voting for Atiku as president.
“There are basically two reasons which I have repeated over and over on social media. First is that young persons like myself who served politicians will never again be taken for granted. Second, it is to warn Nigerians and educate them before the elections to prevent them from making the greatest mistake ever,” he said.
“If Nigerians think that they have seen corruption before, let them wait until they make the mistake of voting the Atiku family into office.”
Achimugu’s allegations prompted the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, who was the spokesperson of the APC presidential campaign council, to call for the arrest of Atiku.
In a petition dated 16 January, the minister asked the anti-graft agencies to arrest the former vice president on offences of money laundering, breach of the Code of Conduct Act, conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust and misappropriation.
He even filed a suit seeking an order of the court to compel the Code Of Conduct Bureau, CCB, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and ICPC to invite or arrest Atiku.
He asked the court to order the agencies to investigate and prosecute Atiku based on the claims contained in the affidavit deposed to by Achimugu.
The suit was however thrown out by the Federal High Court in Abuja. The judge, James Omotosho, dismissed the suit at the preliminary stage for being frivolous, and awarded a total of N10 million against Keyamo.
The judge ordered Keyamo to pay N5 million to each of Atiku and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC.
The court also added a 10 per cent interest rate per annum until full liquidation of same.
The judge dismissed Keyamo’ suit after upholding the preliminary objection filed against the suit by Atiku’s lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, also a SAN, and ICPC’s lawyer, Oluwakemi Odogun.
He ruled that the suit was frivolous, vexatious and constituted an abuse of court process.
But he assumed office on Friday as the new NCAA Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, barely a week after Tinubu approved the removal of all the directors of agencies in the aviation ministry amidst an ongoing effort to revamp the country’s aviation sector to ensure a safe and efficient air travel experience for Nigerians.
Earlier on Thursday, the president had approved the appointment of new directors for five agencies under the ministry.
Achimugu made the list of the newly appointed directors of the NCAA.
On Saturday, Carol Adekotujo, NCAA’s head of public relations, in a statement announced that Achimugu has assumed office at the NCAA office in Abuja.
Before his new appointment, Achimugu served as the Special Assistant on Customer Relations and Special Assistant on Media to Mr Keyamo.