The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has dismissed as fake, reports of lack of transparency in the recruitment of Ms Aisha Abba-Kyari and that she is being unduly favoured by the Authority’s Management.

Defending the Authority’s recruitment process, a top source at NSIA said: “The story is absolutely false and without foundation. Ms Aisha Abba-Kyari’s recruitment did not violate or contravene the set recruitment process at the NSIA, which clearly has a robust and stringent recruitment policy that has enabled it to attract and continue to retain world class talents. This fact is demonstrated in the consistently impressive returns of the NSIA.”

News Express checks showed that Ms Abba-Kyari’s recruitment was based on her application for one of the positions duly advertised by NSIA in mid-2018. “Her selection was based on her academic qualifications, her international and local work experiences,” a top official of NSIA said last night.

On her part, Titilope Olubiyi, Head, Corporate Communications at NSIA, pointed out the flaws in the allegations first published by an obscure blog and repeated on Sunday by a civil rights group, the Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance (CACOBAG), without due investigation. The reports had insinuated that Ms Aisha was employed by NSIA because her father, Abba Kyari, is the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari and that is enjoying a humongous package meant for people far above her rank.

Olubiyi, however, dismissed both allegations, saying: “The clear mischief in the reports can be seen in the very false and unsubstantiated statements it contains:

“The report claims that AVP is the ‘highest level in the organisation’. This is not only false, but mischievous given that AVP1 is the 9th level out of NSIA’s 22-level grading system.

“The report also claimed that she was given a car 6 months ahead, when the position does not entitle the staff to a car in the first place. In fact, she will require 2 promotion cycles to qualify for a car entitlement.

“The report also claims that the candidates package was N32m, which is a not true.”

Olubiyi equally rubbished the quotes attributed to NSIA directors, describing them as entirely false.

She said: “At no time was there a forum at which any of the directors made such statements neither is there any document to validate the purported accounts as published.

“There is no correlation between the recruitment process of the candidate, and the approval process of an ED or Board member. These are mutually exclusive and independent events.

“Also, the allegation that Board members refused to interview the candidate is false. In actual fact, a Board member in the appropriate sub-committee of the Board participated in the process.”

Meanwhile, News Express learnt last night that NSIA will be publishing their numbers today, Monday, April 29, 2019, and indications are that the positive growth trend of returns will continue.

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