Sources in the Presidency confirmed that the vice president, through a memo, had received a presidential directive on Monday asking him to seek presidential approvals for those agencies.
The vice president chairs the governing boards of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA), the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), and the National Boundary Commission (NBC).
He also chairs the Board of Directors of Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), a limited liability company owned by the three tiers of government as well as the Chairman of National Council on Privatisation (NCP). The new directive came in the wake of alleged irregularities in running the affairs of the agencies. There was no reason given by the Presidency on the latest directive. However, a statement issued last night by the Office of the Vice President said the Number Two citizen never breached due process in running the affairs of the agencies.
Also, reports in some quarters suggested that recent developments were part of the resolve of President Buhari to further decentralize some of the powers vested within the confines of the Presidency in line with the dictates of his “Next Level Agenda.” Two days ago, President Muhammadu Buhari disbanded the Economic Management Team (EMT) headed by the vice president and replaced it with an Economic Advisory Council (EAC).
One of the sources at the Presidency said that the memo stripping the vice president of powers to give final approval to the agencies was issued last week, but that Prof. Osinbajo received it on Monday.
“Yes, that has been there since last week. He has been directed to be seeking presidential approvals on all the agencies under his supervision,” the source stated
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