Mounting pressure…Odimegwu quits as NPC chair

A statement signed by Sam Nwaobasi, media aide of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim, said the resignation took effect from yesterday, 17th October 2013.The statement also named Dr. Sam Ahaiwe, the commissioner representing Abia State in the commission, as acting chairman, pending the appointment of a substantive chairman.A dependable source […]

A statement signed by Sam Nwaobasi, media aide of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim, said the resignation took effect from yesterday, 17th October 2013.
The statement also named Dr. Sam Ahaiwe, the commissioner representing Abia State in the commission, as acting chairman, pending the appointment of a substantive chairman.
A dependable source said Odimegwu actually resigned to avoid being sacked following the forces that came against his management of the commission in the past few months.
“He was said to have gotten information about a sack letter been prepared before the Sallah break, that is why he quickly resigned. So, he was forced to do that, if not he would have been sacked,” the source added.
The SGF had earlier queried the former chairman over his “unguarded utterances.” The query followed public outcry over the chairman’s outbursts as well as a petition by 24 commissioners in the agency, dated August 21, in which they urged President Goodluck Jonathan to fire the NPC chairman.
The commissioners said in the petition that they passed a vote of no-confidence in the chairman, as his “conduct has precipitated the present seeming anarchy pervading the commission and generated the persisting unhealthy national debate on past census results in this country.”
Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso also urged President Jonathan to sack Odimegwu, emphasising that his appointment, in the first place, was a mistake.
Before they went on Sallah break, the Senate and House of Representatives committees on population were said to be filled to the gills with the former chairman for failing to honour several invitations to address them on the many controversial issues surrounding his regime at the commission.
The former chairman became famous for his utterances condemning all previous head counts conducted in the country since 1816, claiming that he had come to correct the imbalance in the population of some parts of the country.
In one of his outbursts, Odimegwu said the 2006 census figures were mostly cooked up and the process was tainted by large-scale corruption. His predecessor Samu’ila Danko Makama said Odimewgu was simply being mischievous, or was exhibiting crass ignorance since the 2006 census results were approved by the National Council of States and international donor agencies.
Reacting to Odimegwu’s exit yesterday, chairman of the House of Representatives committee on population Rep Idris Abdullahi Garba said Odimegwu’s resignation would reposition the commission.
He said the former chairman’s exit came at the right time as the commission has been facing a lot of crises largely due to his style of leadership and unguarded utterances in the public sphere.
Garba (APC, Niger) who reacted on phone yesterday stated that the commission now stands a better chance of winning the hearts of Nigerians, recalling that Odimegwu had made many Nigerians to doubt his ability to conduct the 2016 census.
Also, a commissioner at the agency who said he didn’t want to be named said the resignation of the former chairman is long overdue. He said the commissioners had expected him to resign long before now, but rather than do so, he took to media campaigns.
“I believe somebody must have advised him to resign at this time, because the hand-writing has been clear on the wall for him to see. If he had not resigned, he would have ended his career in a mess, because we know he would be sacked one day,” the commissioner added.
The former chairman could not be reached yesterday. When Daily Trust contacted the commissioner representing Ogun State Mrs Oluseyi Aderinokun-Olusanya who also heads the Public Affairs Committee for comments, she said, “I am not in Abuja and I don’t want to be quoted wrongly, as soon as I verify the information, I will reach out to you.”
In the statement from the SGF office yesterday, Nwaobasi also said President Jonathan had approved the appointment of Prof. Anya. O. Anya, a member of the Advisory Committee on National Dialogue to replace Prof. Ben Nwabueze, who is abroad on health grounds.
The statement also announced that Mr Pius Olakunle Osunyikanmi has been appointed as Director General/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps.