Officers demand sack of NDLEA chairman over financial recklessness

·     He’s a liar, not our officer – NDLEA spokesman

The Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (retired) and other directors in the Agency have been accused financial recklessness and withholding entitlements of dead officers.

In a petition written by an officer of the Agency, Musa Ahmed Yusuf, Abdallah was accused of financial recklessness and making the once vibrant Agency to become comatose.

The petition was addressed to the President of Nigeria, Mr Muhammadu Buhari and copied to Abdallah, Senate Committee on Drugs and Financial Crimes, House Committee on Drugs and Financial Crimes, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, National Security Adviser, Femi Falana Chambers and Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu.

Yusuf, who said that he was writing on behalf of other NDLEA officers, calls for the sack of Abdallah, alleging that the chairman spends millions per trip.

He explained that the only way for the Agency to regain its lost glory, was for the President to immediately suspend Abdallah as Chairman and the compulsory retirement of the seven Directors. 

He also calls for a clinical probe of the financial recklessness of Abdallah by not paying imprest to commanders and the unjustifiable foreign travels.

His words: “ We also want appointment of a more senior, confident and visionary person to lead the Agency and correct the career stagnation and immediate harmonization, provision of life insurance policy, medical care, and better remuneration.” 

Yusuf disclosed that since Abdallah’s assumption of office two years ago, 58 officers have died under his watch.  “The families of these heroes are constantly in pains of neglect as their entitlements are yet to be paid,” alleged Yusuf.  

Yusuf noted: “We call for the sack of the chairman and the directors. The Agency under him has continuously retrogressed due to administrative callousness and inaction. Nothing has changed since we appealed to you to save the Agency from decadence in November 2017. Every NDLEA officer is three ranks below their normal placement. We request that our ranks be fully restored while dead officers, also cheated be posthumously honoured.

“Other Agencies of government did promotion in December 2017 to enable qualified officers to enjoy their rightful cadre in the New Year. Our fear that Abdallah will take no action was again confirmed when he sent the old nominal roll for 2018 salary. The implication is that NDLEA officers will continue to collect the same old salary this New Year.”

The petitioner further claimed that since Abdallah's appointment, he only gave commanders a paltry imprest of N130, 000 to run their commands once in February 2016.

He asked: “How then is the monthly allocation to the Agency spent? Over 90% is illegally diverted into Abdallah's frivolous foreign travels. The disbursement record of the Agency's income under him will open up a can of worms. The non-provision of running fund to officers is the worst form of inducement to corruption. Why is the law hard on an officer that collects N10, 000 bribe but soft on the boss that stagnates his career?”

According to Yusuf, about 60 officers had died from frustration and criminal neglect of their welfare.

He stressed that their entitlements were yet to be paid by Abdallah. He said: “The souls of late officers and their neglected families are yearning for succour. Important issues like life insurance cover and intensive medical care for officers in view of the hazardous nature of fighting drug cartels have been neglected by Abdallah.”

He insisted that drug control efforts in the country had plummeted, demanding swift intervention.

He said: “Abdallah spends a minimum of N11m per trip. Abdallah has left major cracks in the partnership walls between the Agency and international partners. Some of the key partners like the United States Government and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) among others are seemingly not comfortable with the state of affairs in the NDLEA.”

He continued: “Drug barons used to be scared because of incessant arrests and seizures of their drugs in Nigeria but under Abdallah, they are having the best of times. Abdallah's olive branch to drug cartels has sent wrong signals to international partners. The Special Enforcement Team that used to discover clandestine laboratories and large shipments of drugs in the past has become comatose since Abdallah refused to provide operational funds.”

Yusuf said that Abdallah has encouraged corruption by neglecting the welfare of both living and late officers. He claimed that the sum of N50,000 was only given to families of three officers; Onwumere Nicholas, Peter Ebun and Abdulrahman Musa who were recently shot dead in Kogi State on October 13, 2017, by gunmen has exposed his chairman’s insensitivity to the plight of officers.

Yusuf and his other colleagues are also not happy that Abdallah has relocated the head office from Lagos to Abuja.

“Abdallah abandoned the Lagos headquarters in Ikoyi for an awful accommodation at the Federal Secretariat Abuja. His claim of relocating the national headquarters to Abuja is a charade. The once vibrant Ikoyi office of the Agency in Lagos is a shadow of itself as Abdallah refused to pay light bills and buy fuel to power the generator. The Ikoyi office has exceeded 24 months of power outage under Abdallah. This has further complicated the bitterness and hopelessness of officers,” said Yusuf.

Reacting to the several allegations, NDLEA spokesman, Jonah Achema, denied Yusuf being an officer of NDLEA, describing him a pathological liar.

This was also as he disclosed that the same Yusuf had earlier accused Abdallah of embezzling N528 million being part of the Agency’s monthly allocation.  

Achema said: “The Chairman has made no pretext about the lamentable financial condition of the Agency, which he has gone out of his way to enlighten both the government and public. The Chairman is so prudent that he often denies himself some entitlements in the face of the Agency's financial realities. It is laughable to accuse anybody of siphoning money under the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, GIFMIS, platform where all government allocations and expenditures are done online real-time, with all transactions permanently recorded. This is verifiable from the Federal Ministries of Finance and Budget and National Planning.’

Achema explained that at the time of Abdallah assumption to office, he inherited an outstanding liability of well over N300 million. Abdallah upon assumption of office carried out a forensic analysis of the career progression of the officers and men of the Agency.

Achema stated: “Knowing that promotion has been a vexed issue in the Agency over the years, he has ensured a meticulous promotion process, which kick started since June and will be completed before the end of this year. It is only natural that once members of staff are promoted, transfers would follow since there will be need for proper staff placement.

“Abdallah has not made any appointments at the director cadre. He therefore cannot be accused of putting square pegs in round holes. The Chairman has continued with the management staff he met upon assumption of duties. None of the Directors he met on ground has reached age 60 or has put in 35 years of service, which are the necessary conditions for disengagement from service. It must be noted that only Directors were moved to Abuja to reduce the overhead cost of having to be shuttling between Lagos and Abuja being the seat of government to carry out their statutory duties. Only the director cadre has been asked to sacrifice for the Agency by relocating to Abuja. No member of staff has been forced to relocate to Abuja except those who indicated interest.

“It is uncharitable for anyone to accuse NDLEA of spending N50, 000 as welfare package for the slain officer and men in Kogi State Command. The N50, 000 was a personal contribution by a Director who visited the scene of the incident. He gave the sum to the State Commander to assist him in running around since the last time any money was given to the Agency was May 2017. It must also be pointed out that for officers to donate to the families of their deceased colleagues is only a demonstration of espirit-de- corps and a tradition and culture of most organizations.  It is heartless to attribute the deaths of officers and resignations to frustrations in the Agency. We all know there is no human condition that provides immunity to death.”

Achema noted that NDLEA has ensured that all international travels were approved by the appropriate authorities. He said that the Agency only attended statutory meetings which the country was mandated to attend.