A non-governmental organisation, Partners for Nasarawa Youth Development, PANAYD, has defended President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment of Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim as the new Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP.
The convener of the group, AbuSultan Ahmad, made this known in a statement sent to DAILY NIGERIAN on Tuesday while reacting to some media reports describing the new NAPTIP boss as “unqualified” for the job.
According to the group, these reports are the handiwork of mischief makers who are all out to tarnish the stellar image of the new director-general.
The group noted that the new NAPTIP Boss is a holder of Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, two Masters’ Degrees in Management, and Business Administration.
The statement said: “After vying for the membership of the National Assembly in 2019, Imaan was appointed as a Special Assistant on Strategic Communications to the State Minister for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba.
“She was also appointed as member, Nasarawa State Economic Advisory Council.
“Those mischief-makers were quick to forget that it is within the prerogative of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to appoint people into positions based on existing laws.”
The group added that the Nigerian Constitution provides that the President has the authority to fill the most critical positions within executive departments and agencies with the people he thinks will best implement his manifesto and promise to the people.
“These appointments could either be political appointments or statutory appointments. This is called “executive powers”.
“To this end, aside from having the requisite qualifications to hold any office in Nigeria, Imaan is a committed Buharist and All Progressives Congress member who has worked towards the development of the party not only in Nasarawa State, but also the country as a whole.
“While these mischief-makers were under the illusion that Imaan was not qualified for the NAPTIP job, Mr President was seeing in her a committed Nigerian who is willing to contribute her quota towards promoting national development.”
The group, therefore, described Imaan’s appointment as well-deserving, calling on these mischief-makers join hands with the new NAPTIP director-general in eradicating incidences of human trafficking and other forms of rights violations in the country.
“It is not surprising that a person like Imaan would be reduced to such diatribe. A philanthropist by all standards, Imaan is a politician with a history of empowering the less privileged, supporting girl-child education and women and youth empowerment,” the group added.
