AN ABUJA based legal practitioner, Mr Maduabuchi O. Idam, has issued a 30-day pre-action notice to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu asking him to, among other things, “reverse the illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional re-appointment of Dr. Vincent Isegbe as Director General (DG) of Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service.”
The pre-action notice, dated March 20, 2024, and addressed directly to President Tinubu, was equally copied to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Attorney General of the Federation & Minister of Justice (AGF), Minister of Agriculture and Food Security and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS).
The lawyer expressed his disenchantment on the re-appointment of Dr. Isegbe for a fresh term of five years as the DG of NAQS after he had exited the office following the expiration of his tenure as DG.
Re-appointment violates NAQS Act, Public Service Rules
According to the lawyer, the law is unambiguous under the Public Service Rules, which states that a public servant has either 35 years to spend in service or he retires upon attainment of 60 years of age, whichever comes first.
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He noted that in compliance with the Public Service Rules, Dr Isegbe, from available information, was born on 26th March 1961, and as a result, officially retired on March 26, 2021, but continued to occupy the position of DG of NAGS till December 13, 2023 when he eventually bowed out after the completion of his five year term as DG.
According to the lawyer, the exit of Dr Isegbe necessitated the appointment in acting capacity of the most senior ranking officer by the Minister of Agriculture in line with NAQS Establishment Act to head the agency.
“Howbeit, bearing in mind the combined effect of the Public Service Rules and the relevant sections of the Act, I daresay that from the 26th of March 2021, being the period Dr. Isegbe ceased to be in service as a result of his retirement, he ought to have exited the service. Nevertheless, he was asked to vacate the office on the 13th of December 2023 when his tenure as DG expired. Hence, the next most senior in rank was duly appointed in accordance with the Act”, Idam stated in his letter.
He posited that “pending the reversal of this unholy re-appointment, I am constrained to think that the renewed-hope mantra of Mr. President is synonymous with either renewed impunity or renewed hopelessness. Otherwise, why would a public servant, who had spent a total of nine (9) solid years in the office of Director General of a government agency, with an unimpressive record of gross abuse of office and corruption allegations, be considered fit for a re-appointment even after he exited office”.
He also observed that “upon his retirement on 26th March 2021, Dr. Isegbe ceased to be both an officer and or high-ranking officer in the service and accordingly, he ultimately exited the office in 13th December 2023, following the expiration of his tenure as DG which necessitated the appointment of the next in rank to occupy the office albeit in acting capacity as provided by Section 10 (5) of the Act.
According to Barr. Idam, the unambiguous provision of the Act is a beacon of light, and in his considered view, “Dr. Isegbe has become a total stranger to the Agency, following his exit therefrom.”
He further noted that as a result, Isegbe does not qualify as a staff member of NAQS or an employee as no provision of the Act contemplates the appointment of a retiree, a stranger or an individual outside the agency to hold or occupy the position of the DG of NAQS.
Stressing that the “re-appointment of Isegbe is utterly baseless and unsupported by law”, Barr. Idam asks: “As a Nigerian citizen, I am curious to know: What is the fate of the next most senior officer in the agency who was already appointed as Director General in acting capacity and had been holding sway in that capacity till Dr. Vincent Isegbe’s re-appointment?”
Not a good example
The lawyer argued that the re-appointment of Isegbe is certainly not a good example of an administration that chants ‘renewed hope,’ because the hope of the teeming junior officers in NAQS who have invested their years expecting to grow to the highest position would have been truncated if Isegbe’s re-appointment is allowed to stand.
“TAKE NOTICE that thirty (30) days is hereby given within which to reverse the appointment. However, in the event of your failure to reverse Dr. Vincent Isegbe’s re-appointment within thirty (30) days, I and other patriotic Nigerians shall be constrained to approach the court to question the legality or otherwise of the aforesaid appointment,” Idam concluded.
