President Bola Tinubu has appointed Michael Achimugu, an estranged aide of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, as a director at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, Mr Achimugu accused his former boss, Atiku, of corruption and gross financial impropriety.
But he assumed office on Friday as the new NCAA Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, barely a week after Mr Tinubu approved the removal of all the directors of agencies in the aviation ministry amid an ongoing effort to revamp the country’s aviation sector to ensure a safe and efficient air travel experience for Nigerians.
Earlier on Thursday, the president had approved the appointment of new directors for five agencies under the ministry.
Mr Achimugu made the list of the newly appointed directors of the NCAA, amid insinuations that he was compensated for going against his former principal, Atiku, during the last election.
Background
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, Mr Achimugu accused his former boss, Atiku, of using Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to commit financial fraud.
In an interview with Television Continental (TVC), at the time, Mr Achimugu alleged that he was motivated to take on his former boss because he wanted to educate Nigerians and dissuade them from voting for Atiku as president.
“There are basically two reasons which I have repeated over and over on social media. First is that young persons like myself who served politicians will never again be taken for granted. Second, it is to warn Nigerians and educate them before the elections to prevent them from making the greatest mistake ever,” he said.
“If Nigerians think that they have seen corruption before, let them wait until they make the mistake of voting the Atiku family into office.”
Mr Achimugu’s allegations prompted the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, who was the spokesperson of the APC presidential campaign council, to call for the arrest of Mr Atiku.
In a petition dated 16 January, the minister asked the anti-graft agencies to arrest the former vice president on offences of money laundering, breach of the Code of Conduct Act, conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust and misappropriation.
According to Mr Keyamo at the time, the APC campaign was acting on the allegations made by Mr Achimugu, who claimed to be a former aide to the PDP candidate.
Atiku lost to Mr Tinubu of the APC in the presidential election and the issues generated from the allegations have since fizzled out.
On Saturday, Carol Adekotujo, NCAA’s head of public relations, in a statement announced that Mr Achimugu has assumed office at the NCAA office in Abuja.
Before his new appointment, Mr Achimugu served as the Special Assistant on Customer Relations and Special Assistant on Media to Mr Keyamo.
