Engr. Umar Abdullahi Umar, Executive Director of Technical Services of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), is the son of former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
President Bola Tinubu named Umar to the new REA management team following the agency’s indefinite suspension under Ahmad Salihijo.
While Tinubu nominated Aliyu Abubakar to replace Salihijo, he also appointed three others, including Ganduje’s son, as the Agency’s new Executive Directors.
The other two new directors are: Ayoade Gboyega, Executive Director of Corporate Services, and Doris Uboh, Executive Director of the Rural Electrification Fund.
Salhijo, who was nominated by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, was suspended, along with three of his directors.
The directors are Olaniyi Alaba Netufo, Executive Director of Corporate Services; Barka Sajou, Executive Director of Technical Services; and Sa’adatu Balgore, Executive Director of the Rural Electrification Fund (REF).
Tinubu also ordered a broader probe into the former REA management team’s activities regarding “a fraudulent expenditure amounting to over N1.2 billion over the past two years.”
According to presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale, anti-graft officials have already retrieved some of the plundered monies.
The new Technical Director of REA actively participated in the 2023 elections. Following his father’s withdrawal from the Senate contest, the younger Ganduje was pushed to run for the House of Representatives seat.
He had earned the APC ticket for the Dawakin Tofa/Tofa/Rimin Gado constituency, but was defeated by Hon Tijjani Jobe of the New Nigerian Peoples Party, a ranking lawmaker.
Engr. Umar, who previously worked for the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), is very close to his father. He was a significant figure in the Tinubu/Shettima campaign, particularly in the youth wing.