The Whistler learnt that Buhari is fixated about foreign rating of his regime and had contracted the firm to give him a balanced assessment of how he has fared in the past 10 months since coming into power on May 29 last year, and how his appointees have performed.
A source privy to the workings of the firm confided in The Whistler that there is a damning report on Lawal which alleged that since he was appointed, the business of government has nosed-dived, as well as rampant corrupt practices in the Office of the SGF.
“About a month or so ago, the president contracted a firm from the U.S. to assess the performance of his government and officials. The result is far from complimentary in respect to some officials, number one of which is the SGF, Engr. Lawal.
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“The SGF it was learnt has been collecting kickbacks and outright bribes from individuals and groups doing or wanting to do business with the government.
“His supervisory role over the MDAs was also brought to question but it is surprising that the president has allowed him to stay this long when a former permanent secretary and Head of Service had already been screened and cleared by the DSS,” the source confided.
It was also learnt that the firm expressed surprise that during the interval before ministers were appointed, the permanent secretaries performed well, a situation our source said could be because of the fear of the president and their understanding of the workings of government.
Babachir Lawal was appointed by President Buhari in October last year.
In another related development, some departments and agencies’ staffers have expressed the worry that executive directors were left in office while chief executives of some agencies have been sacked by the present regime.
The aggrieved staff argued that executive directors ought to have gone with the chief executives since they are all political appointees, stressing that the executive directors could not be excused from any impropriety that may have happened in such departments and agencies.
The affected staff appealed to the president to as a matter of urgency sack the executive directors and probe their time in office.