President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked Hajiya Saratu Umar as the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, NIPC.
The sack of Umar as the NIPC boss was announced on Thursday, in a statement by the Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina.
It was the second time Hajiya Umar would be removed as the boss of the Commission.
Sunrise News recalled that Umar had earlier been sacked from office by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 over controversies about her handling of tax waivers estimated to be worth $20bn.
However, she was reappointed as the boss of NIPC by President in July 2022, for a fresh term of five years, and she barely spend eight months in office when she was booted out again.
“Saratu Umar is a technocrat, reformer, strategist, economist, investment promotion expert, export development specialist, with experience in banking and finance, investment and consulting segments of the public and private sectors of Nigeria.
“In the short period of her service as Executive Secretary, she transformed the NIPC into a world-class investment agency and minimized revenue leakages, saving the country N500 billion, for which she received a commendation from the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission, RMFC,” Garba Shehu, spokesperson for president Buhari said while announcing her appointment.
However, no reason was given for her sack in a statement released on Thursday.
In the statement, the President had directed the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, to ask the most senior Director of the Commission to run affairs of NIPC in the interim.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has terminated the appointment of Hajiya Saratu Umar as the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), with immediate effect.
“In a directive to the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo CON, the President also mandated the most senior Director in the Commission to immediately take over in the interim,” the statement reads.