There is growing anxiety again over the fate of Capt. Chris Najomo, the acting director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), who has remained in office despite the expiration of his tenure on December 12. There have been high-wire politicking for weeks now over Najomo’s tenure. The position of the DG of NCAA became vacant after the tenure of the acting DG, Capt. Chris Najomo, expired on Thursday. However, 48 hours after the expiration of Najomo’s appointment as acting DG, President Bola Tinubu has not announced the renewal of his appointment or sent his name to the Senate for confirmation as substantive DG of the agency.
Despite expiration of the acting DG’s tenure, he still attend to correspondence and other administrative issues in the agency. For instance, on Monday, 16th December, 2024, the acting DG signed correspondence announcing the postponement of the Minister of Aviation’s engagement with Stakeholders in the aviation sector.
In June, the Federal Government has had issued a statement to reaffirm Najomo as acting DG in reaction to an article in the Punch Newspaper of Wednesday, June 19th 2024 titled “Worry as NCAA Acting Director-General (DG) tenure expires. This time, after another six months had elapsed, there is no communication yet from the government.
Stakeholders, however, queried why Capt. Najomo still attends to official issues or correspondence despite the expiration of his tenure as acting DG NCAA.
“The tenure of the acting DG expired on 12 December 2024 and has not been extended by President Tinubu. Why is he signing a document on 16 December, 2024 four days after the expiration of his tenure. This is an illegal act by the Regulator of the industry,” a source was quoted by LEADERSHIP newspaper.
Accordingly, the President appoints the DG through the recommendation of the Minister subject to confirmation by the Senate. The Civil Aviation Act, 2022 Part IV – Management and Staff of the Authority 11. (1), clearly confirms the process of appointing the DG.