President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the suspension of the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Usman.
In a statement signed on Thursday by Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, the suspension followed a recommendation by Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi,to set up an administrative panel of inquiry to investigate the management of the NPA.
The President also approved the appointment of Mohammed Koko as acting Managing Director while “the investigation is carried out.”
The panel is to be headed by the director of maritime services in the ministry while the deputy director of legal services in the same ministry will serve as secretary.
Other members of the panel will be appointed by the minister.
Bala Usman was first appointed as the MD of NPA in July 2016.
In January, President Muhammadu Buhari reappointed her for an additional five-year tenure.
She previously served as the chief of staff to Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, from 2015 to 2016.
In 2014, she co-founded the Bring Back Our Girls campaign to advocate the rescue of abducted Chibok schoolgirls.
She is also a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
