President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has expressed support for Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), amid controversy surrounding a recent promotion exercise at the Commission.
The endorsement came to light through an article by Sam Omatseye, chairman of the editorial board of The Nation newspaper. In the piece, titled “One Day With President Tinubu” and published on May 26, 2025, Omatseye recounted observing Maida’s meeting with the President.
According to him, Maida sought Tinubu’s position on pressures to reverse merit-based decisions.
“He held meetings. I observed comings and goings like a fly on the wall. One was from Aminu Maida, who wanted the President’s backing on recent hirings. He was under political pressure to replace merit with corruption. ‘I believe in merit. Do what is right,’ said Tinubu,” Omatseye wrote.
Maida is currently at the centre of internal tensions at the NCC, following a promotion exercise conducted in March 2025. Staff members who did not meet the 70% pass mark have accused the Commission of favouritism, fraud, and ethnic bias. These aggrieved staff have formed a pressure group known as the “Concerned Staff of the Nigerian Communications Commission” to press their demands.
While Maida has not publicly commented on the protests, his recourse to President Tinubu underscores the sensitivity of the issue. The dispute has grown beyond promotion outcomes to include broader grievances, such as the alleged selection of a few staff members for elite foreign training programs at Harvard University and the London School of Economics.
The Commission maintains that cost-cutting directives from the federal government have led to reduced international engagements, allowing it to redirect resources to salaries, allowances, and other staff welfare initiatives.
Contrary to claims that the pass mark was arbitrarily increased from 60% to 70%, internal findings indicate that the 70% benchmark has been in place for the past five years.
Following the 2025 promotion cycle, a regional breakdown of promoted staff shows: South East – 25.74%, South South – 16.91%, South West – 16.91%, North Central – 13.97%, North West – 13.24%, and North East – 13.24%.
The ongoing dispute reflects deeper institutional tensions over transparency, representation, and performance standards within one of Nigeria’s key regulatory bodies.
