Tinubu Faces Lawsuit For ‘Unlawful’ Appointment Of NiMet DG

A lawsuit has been filed against Nigeria’s controversial President, Bola Tinubu, for assenting to the appointment of Charles Anosike, the Director-General of Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), after the “unlawful” recommendation made by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.

This was contained in court documents, petitions, and letters seen by West Africa Weekly last week, delivered to Keyamo, NiMet, and Tinubu.

While Keyamo oversees NiMet as a parastatal under the aviation ministry, the petition shared is considered applicable to him.

As highlighted in these documents, Anosike was appointed NiMET’s DG on December 18, 2023. However, the litigations claimed that he lacked the requirements, which include meteorological certifications or a closely related scientific background to lead NiMet as stipulated in the NiMet Act 2022 10(3) and 10(4) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Also, in a letter written by the former chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atolagbe Adigun, to President Tinubu, he indicated that Anosike, whom he considered a close associate of the former aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, who is under investigation for corruption, lacked the required qualifications for the position and recommended that the President reconsider his appointment.

With discrepancies placed on the qualifications of Anosike as NiMet DG by the former APC chieftain, a quick search of his name on LinkedIn showed that Asonike was a professor of leadership with backgrounds in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), among other unrelated requirements to lead NiMet.

NiMet’s website states that Anosike holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Information Technology with a specialisation in IT-Project Management from American InterContinental University. He completed a doctorate in Business Administration (Leadership specialisation) from Walden University.

Despite the untendered required qualifications which violates the NiMet Act 2022 10(3)(4) and provisions of Article 6, Part IV of the Convention of the World Meteorological Organisation, 1947, Asonike maintained the title of both the DG of NiMet and the Permanent Representative of Nigeria with World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics.

With the discrepancies surrounding Anosike, West Africa Weekly gathered that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between NiMet and TV Continental (TVC), a privately-owned broadcasting network affiliated with President Tinubu, to “help” in disseminating weather and climate information.

Speaking during the signing ceremony in Abuja on Friday, May 17 2024, Anosike stated, “The partnership with TVC is coming at the right time as we are about to launch our new generation TV weather broadcast graphics alongside other content. NiMet is disseminating the 2024 seasonal climate prediction (SCP) report to farmers and other stakeholders nationwide. We need TVC and other media organisations to help broadcast these to the public.”

West Africa Weekly obtained more letters sent to Tinubu and NiMet between March and July, indicating court papers, including an originating summons, a supporting affidavit, a supporting address and more affidavits filed at the federal high court in Abuja.

Meanwhile, given the litigation, as it is expected to be responded to by the defendants in less than a week, West Africa Weekly contacted Keyamo on Friday. His contact information was not connecting at press time. Also, the State House did not respond to media comments at press time.

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