FAAN Director Rejects New Posting, Request For Leave Without Pay

The power play between the Minister of State for Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika and the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Saleh Dunoma on one hand the redeployed Director of Human Resources of FAAN, Hajiya Salamatu Umar-Eluma continues as she has blatantly refused to report to her new posting at the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).

It was gathered from a source at the Ministry of Transport that few days before the letter conveying her redeployment to AIB was issued by the Ministry of Transport, Aviation Division, Umar-Eluma had already requested for a year study leave without pay from the management.

The letter, we learned was accepted and approved by Dunoma.

Our correspondent learned that the former Director of Human Resources, FAAN got wind of the planned redeployment earlier in the week and immediately tendered her letter requesting for the study leave.

It was gathered that Umar-Eluma had already made up her mind not to resume at AIB, which she considered as a demotion.

There is no love lost between Dunoma and Umar-Eluma since the former became the Managing Director of FAAN in March 2014. There is a suspicion that Umar-Eluma is eyeing the top job in FAAN, a situation, which has created a frosty relationship between the two.

Umar-Eluma’s redeployment letters and two others were issued on Friday, August 18,  2017.

The source said: “Salamatu was already aware of the gameplay has been a part of it too from the outset. Before the letter was released to her, she was already aware that she was going to be redeployed and she immediately tendered a letter requesting for a year study leave without pay.

“She believed that before she returns from the leave, both Sirika and Dunoma would have been removed by the Presidency from the industry. You know she’s close to Mrs. Aisha Buhari and she has never hidden the relationship with the wife of Mr. President. The close relationship has even prevented her from being removed in the past since Sirika came on board.”

Also, it has been revealed that the new General Manager, Accounts, FAAN, Mal. Kabir Mohammed is a cousin to Sirika. Mohammed was equally last Friday appointed in that capacity while the erstwhile General Manager in that department was redeployed to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

In October 2016, Sirika had also announced the appointment of Mr. Sadiku Abdulkadir Rafindadi as Director of Commercial & Business Development in FAAN, Rafindadi is also believed to be his first cousin.

Like Sirika, Mohammed and Rafindadi are from Katsina State while one Alhaji Daura, the Director of Engineering in FAAN is also from the same state as the minister.