Stakeholders task the new NDLEA DG to bring reform in the agency

Emeka Ibemere

Stakeholders of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have tasked the newly appointed Director General of the agency to focus on the challenges facing the agency, as she settles down to work at her newly office at the No 4 Shaw Road Ikoyi Office of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

Mrs. Roli Bode-George, the newly appointed Director-General replaced the former DG, Femi Ajayi, who was recently appointed the Executive Secretary of Petroleum Technology Development Trust Fund (PTDF).

According to the staffs and stakeholders Mrs. Bode-George, who has resumed duty in the last one month, has much work in her hands.

A group of staff, who have sent several petitions to Federal government and Head of Service, and Secretary to the government, the new DG’s first job was to look into the imbalance in the troubled promotion.

At the moment, the promotion squabble is rocking the NDLEA at its Headquarters in Lagos and Abuja, following the recent promotion exercise released by the agency’s management.

The promotion has created disaffections at the agency and stifled the seniority protocol at the Para-military agency. The promotion has taken the agency to National Security Adviser’s office and with several petitions sent to the Head of Service and Office of the Civil Service of the Federation, Federal Secretariat Abuja.

According to the petitioners, led by one Paul Audu, the recent promotion was nothing but crass nepotism and maladministration. The Audu said the exercise was meant to promote some sections of the country to vantage positions of the agency.

In a petition dated 26 April 2013 and written by Audu, a staff of the agency against the Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade, entitled Disobedience To Superior Circulars By NDLEA Chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade and sent to Daily Newswatch, the petitioner said Giade disobeyed several circulars from the Federal Civil Service Commission and Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation in promoting officers and Men of the agency.

The petitioner said Giade disobeyed the Federal Civil Service Commission on Review of Policy on Promotion and Granting of officers of the agency Notional Promotion. These are parts of the new challenges waiting for the new DG, to clear and reconciled aggrieved staffers with the management.

 She is expected to recall the files of the aggrieved staffers and see the plights. Mrs. Bode George should equally look into the aggrieved staffer’s petitions in a Ref No: FC.6243/s.1/VoL. XVIII/5 dated 28 May, 2010 ordering Giade to review the promotion of officers which was not heeded to by Giade.

According to one of the staff, Daboro, the Chairman received the circular on 7 June, 2010 but has refused to comply with the order.

The petitioner highlighted that prior to the circular from the Federal Service Commission; most of the agency’s officers of different ranks were in arrears of two promotions. Instead of the promotion, Giade was said to have conducted promotion Examination/Interviews for only one promotion but failed to clear the arrears of promotion for those that were due for promotion as stipulated by the circular.

 “As can be seen from the list of officers promoted after the circulars, the effective date of promotion of the promoted officers became due on different dates like 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively. This shows that at the time the circular was released and the last promotion exercise conducted, those whose effective dates were 2006 and 2007 were already due for two promotions and NDLEA Chairman was supposed to clear those arrears of promotion in accordance with paragraph 2 of the circular but he refused to comply”, Daboro stated in his petition.

According to Daboro, those that were due in 2006 and 2007 were not promoted but those that were due in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively were promoted.

With Giade’s new promotion exercise, Daboro said the Chairman has succeeded in generating problems and confusion in NDLEA. He said those that merited being in 4-5 years senior in rank are now rank mates with their juniors who are just due this year; a situation which is generating bad blood in the agency.

“Giade’s alleged failure and refusal to act appropriately in accordance with Federal Service Commission’s directive has made some officers to be in the same rank with officers they were their seniors with five years,” Daboro said.

The petitioner also claimed that the officers on the rank of Chief Narcotic Agent (CAN) have not been promoted to their next rank of Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics 2(ASN11), for the past eleven years.

“Even when the last promotion exercise was conducted in December, 2010, none of them was considered for promotion. You can confirm this from the attached list of 2010 promotions”.

It was gathered that in 2011, NDLEA employed new officers and gave them the rank of ASN11 equivalent of Grade Level 8 while those that supposed to be their seniors by 8 years are kept stagnated on the rank of CAN.

“Do we then expect those on the rank of CAN to see and respect those on the rank of ASN11, as their seniors in line with paramilitary tradition”? Daboro queried. Daboro observed in his petition that NDLEA is a paramilitary organization which emphasizes hierarchical seniority and discipline but wondered why the Chairman and Chief Executive of the agency has succeeded in turning things upside down creating confusion and indiscipline in the agency.

He said to worsen the situation, NDLEA Chairman in a meeting with members of the staff on 13 April, 2013 fixed promotional examination for officers on May 1, 2013 in Jos, Plateau State.

It was in Jos that the officers were told for the first time about the circular on Review (Cancellation) of Policy on Granting of Notional Promotion. When the Times-Table for the promotion examination was released, Giade allegedly dropped officers on the rank of CAN, who have not been promoted for past 11 years.

“What is our offence? By now, we are supposed to be on the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Narcotics (DSN), equivalent of Grade Level 10.” Daboro, a victim of Giade’s action said.

“Sir, paragraph 3 of the circular states that any MDA that fails to conclude its promotion arrears before the above deadline 30 November, 2010 would be held responsible for the non-promotion of its staff and would be accordingly sanctioned”. According to Daboro, thousands of NDLEA officers and NDLEA as an organization are suffering from failed leadership of the chairman to heed the instructions of Federal Civil Service Commission and needs sanction and not the officers that deserved their rightful promotions.

Ending his petition, Musa Daboro prayed to the Head of Service to urgently intervene in the matter by suspending the May 2013 Promotion Examination, has been released recently.

Stakeholders said the new DG should properly verify and settle all the issues in several petitions in order to ensure that every officer of NDLEA is properly placed where they belong to keep the discipline that has been in the agency intact, while restoring the respect the agency has garnered over the years.

Our investigations further showed that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency is disorganized and headed for the rocks. Morale has plummeted and unconcealed general staff’s discontent has assumed a life form and threatens to quicken the demise of the Agency that is already plagued with multifarious and endemic malaises.

Also, there are allegations of ethnic bias in the agency, a situation that is generating suspicion.  Daily Newswatch gathered that a particular staff, one Isa Haruna, from Bauchi the same state with Giade was given a “special promotion”. The source, a senior staff of the Agency claimed that the staffs were promoted from the rank of Chief Narcotic Agent (Three Bars) to Deputy Superintendent of Narcotics (Three Stars). These are part of the crises rocking the NDLEA.

It was gathered that the special promotion of Haruna by Giade has disdainfully disregarded the Agency’s Civil Servant rules and failed to follow due process. 

Investigation by Daily Newswatch revealed that the promotion is causing disquiet among the senior staffers at the agency who squaring for war against the Chairman. When Daily Newswatch visited the office of the agency, it was discovered that the beneficiary of the special promotion, Isa Haruna was SN 4701 Course 10/1998 and joined the agency in 1998 with West African School Certificate. His contemporaries, who joined the same year with him, are still on their ranks of Narcotic Agent (NA) and CNA respectively. He was promoted to Chief Narcotic Agent and later to SNA. It was further gathered that when he was due to write his promotional examination from Narcotic Agent (NA) to Senior Narcotic Agent (SNA) in 2001, he failed some of the courses and had to resit to qualify for promotion at a future date.

It was gathered that when he eventually passed; some of his colleagues who passed their promotional examination at one sitting were supposed to be his seniors according by the Agency’s rules on promotion but this was never followed by the management of the agency.

Despite this, Daily Newswatch gathered that he was still deemed qualified to sit for the promotion examination from SNA to CNA in 2004, which he missed as a result of administrative lapses.

“In 2009, he eventually took the exams and passed but was not promoted in spite of his several letters of complaints to Ahmadu Giade due to further administrative ineptness. When he was considered ripe to take the conversion examination, he did and failed. Passing the conversion examination is prerequisite for entry into the officer cadre as Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics II.

It is therefore preposterous, an abuse of privilege and office and derogation from service discipline to grant special promotion from CNA to DSN. If indeed it was granted that the officer had passed his exams at the right time and had passed the conversion exam as well, he would at best be on the rank of ASNII”, Audu another victim of Giade  recounted.

 In an internal memo defending the ‘special promotion’ of Haruna, circulated by Giade with   ref. no. NDLEA/CCEO/45/VOL.V and dated 16th May, 2013, the Chairman and Chief Executive said the special promotion was for Haruna’s ‘courage, tenacity and perseverance to remedy the wrong done to him… following the due process as enshrined in NDLEA Order” and because “other officers with less problems had written petitions to higher places requesting for external intervention”.

As that wasn’t enough, one Sa’ad Halidu, an NA Course 9/1997 Agent from Bauchi state was said to have gone for conversion examination and the results showed that he failed a paper but Giade ordered that his failed paper be singled out for re-mark and was subsequently promoted.

Another Bauchi indigene, one Suleiman Ahmed Ningi from Bauchi state received double promotion from level 14 to 16 in 2010 for no apparent reason and following no justifiable parameter.

“The only discernable motive for accelerating their promotion over others who were in fact senior to them is ethnic/tribal consideration and desire to place them in competitively more advantageous positions for appointments”. Our source stated.

The nine years of arrears of promotion which was released last month has caused mixed reaction. Mrs. George should as a matter of urgency address the staff welfare which has been in limbo in the last 9 years of Giade.

These staffers who were due for promotion in the last nine years but were not promoted are now in the same rank with people who are Deputy Superintendent of Narcotics, DSN, seven years ago are now a DSN, and with people are qualified to be a DSN, this year with same effective date. Investigation shows that such staffs are at par with their seniors. And in any security agency, the only way to kill security organization is to kill seniority system in the organ gram. Also training of officers are said to be done on selective basis rather than merit as recommended by the Act establishing the agency. The director of training, Dr Lawrence’s duty was allegedly watered down and was made ineffective as he doesn’t know about those going on training which is been done on selective system.

Also, the marginalization of those staffs who served under the Obaya Report which indicted Giade should be redressed.

Ben Ekalim, has been on level 14 for more than 10 years before Giade, came to the agency has not been promoted and he is still Assistant commander Narcotics, ACN, while one Sunday Zirage, who was Assistant Superintendent, when Ekalim was CAN, is now Commander of Narcotics, CN, two ranks away from him. Also the monthly briefing of staffs by the management to keep them in tune with the happening at the agency has been put off, three years ago by the Chairman without reason. It was  gathered that at such meetings, issues are settled and morale of officers boasted for responsibility but in the last three years nothing has been heard of the gathering again. The different between civil servants and security agency is the strict observance of respect and responsibility.

Before Mrs. George is approved time by the civil service rules, which put the closing hour at 4pm but because of lack of obedience to due process in NDLEA, Giade violated the rights of the civil servants and unilaterally fixed closing hours at 5pm

Another uphill task before Mrs. George, is training of the officers. Operatives of the agency have been denied training and capacity building initiative.  Our correspondent gathered that because of the poor allocation of funds, the staffers of the agency had not gone for training and that there Jos training school, in Plateau State, has lost maintenance and tools to train officers.

  Despite the fact, that Section 41, of the NDLEA, Act, Cap N.30, empowers the agency and her officers to enter into any premises and conduct search without warrant in the course of their duties upon a reasonable suspicion of the commission of a drug offence as well as Sections 4 and 43 of the NDLEA Act that empowers the agency to, on the respective approval of either the President or Attorney-General of the Federation, investigate anybody who appears to be living beyond his apparent source of income, the NDLEA has always been confronted with various challenges which include poor funding, inadequate equipment and poor staffing.

Prior to his exit, the former DG lamented over the poor funding of the agency and said the entire agency’s responsibilities have been affected. Our investigation shows that with a population of 160 million, the staff strength of NDLEA is still below 5,300 for the entire country with a lot of borders, legal and illegal entries, which have led to increase in criminality in the area of drug abuse.

In the last 30 years, Nigeria has moved from small player to major player in drug production and consumption.

Today, Nigeria is known for trafficking in drugs and production of the substances, and unless more money is pumped into the agency, drug control would be compromised; the work force would be compromised while the future of the youth is put in jeopardy. This is why Mrs. George, youthful looking mother should go all out to source for fund for the dying agency.

 Due to the poor funding, some of the operatives who died in the line of duty have not been compensated and their widows and aged mothers and fatherless kids are now eating from hand to mouth, a scary situation that could force other personnel to compromise their duties for pecuniary reasons and pass drugs or collaborate with drug barons.

 It is pertinent to point out that by the nature of her functions; NDLEA has the responsibility of safeguarding the health of Nigerians, contributing to maintenance of peace and security in the nation, as well as promoting and enhancing the country’s international image and integrity to attract support and investments. These have led to granting of special powers to the agency to enable her discharge her mandate but funding has been a problem. The Giade’s administrations rely only on the paltry allocation share from the Federal Ministry of Justice.

Due to lack of training and retraining of the officers, the officers fall easily to new technology in crime busting.

 Nigeria’s counter-narcotics policy derives from a 1998 National Drug Control Master Plan.

 However, the NDLEA’s budget is inadequate to implement the plan. As at 2011, the NDLEA’s budget stands at its 2011 level of approximately $61 million. Of this, 0.02 percent, or approximately $140,497 is allocated for NDLEA staff training. Personnel costs account for 92.4 percent of the NDLEA’s budget, while one percent supports capital expenditures.

 Poor funding has made NDLEA to rely on reactive intelligence rather than on proactive intelligence which is much more result orientated. It could be done under focus leadership.