Buhari fires NIPC boss, Saratu Umar

On Thursday evening, Saratu Umar's appointment as the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission was cancelled by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), with immediate effect.

The President also instructed the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, to immediately assume interim leadership from the Commission's most senior Director.

This information was provided by Femi Adesina, the Special Advisor to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement he released on Thursday under the heading "President Buhari terminates appointment of Saratu Umar as NIPC boss."

Umar's eight-month stay ends with the directive.

It happens just a week after a Premium Times story uncovered administrative flaws at the Commission.

The report claims that Umar, who oversees a department charged with encouraging much-needed investments into Nigeria, has been having a problem with her "leadership competence," which has caused her to clash with her colleagues.

First appointed in July 2014 by then-president Goodluck Jonathan, Saratu was fired in 2015, after two weeks after NIPC staff demanded her dismissal.

But on July 5, 2022, Buhari gave his approval for Umar to be reappointed for another five-year term.

She was listed as having a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University and an MBA in Finance and Banking in a statement released at the time and signed by Garba Shehu, the President's Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity.

"She is trained locally and internationally in all core aspects of her career, as well as in leadership, strategy, general management, risk management and corporate governance,” it read in part.

Umar was also referred to by the Presidency as a technocrat, reformer, strategist, economist, expert in investment promotion, a specialist in export growth, and someone with experience in Nigeria's public and private sectors in banking and finance, investment, and consultancy.

It said she transformed the NIPC into a “world-class investment agency and minimised revenue leakages, saving the country N500bn, for which she received a commendation from the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission.”