With the reshuffle, Godwin Balang, formerly Director of Aerodromes and Airspace Standards, has been redeployed to head the Directorate of Airworthiness Standards, while Alhaji Ahmad Abba, the former Director of Special Duties in the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, was redeployed to the Directorate of Aerodromes and Airspace Standards to replace Balang.
Balang formally assumed office at his new department on Tuesday at the headquarters of the NCAA in Abuja. It was learnt that the move was an intervention measure aimed at tightening control over a department accused by insiders of regulatory laxity and procedural compromise.
Sources at the ministry, who did not want their names in print for fear of reprimand, told The PUNCH that Balang formally assumed office at his new department on Tuesday at the headquarters of the NCAA in Abuja.
A ministry source said, “The airworthiness department is where safety either stands or collapses. When leadership is changed at that level, it is rarely accidental.”
When contacted, the media aide to the minister, Tunde Moshood, said the reshuffle was for administrative effectiveness, adding that the investigation opened by the minister was still ongoing.
He said, “It has nothing to do with the complaints; sometimes you just must do some things. The investigation is still ongoing.”
