President Muhammadu Buhari has directed all agencies of government to give priority to indigenous professionals for planning, design, and execution of national projects.

The President spoke yesterday at the inauguration of the Presidential Monitoring and Evaluation Council of Executive Order 5, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said President Buhari stressed that foreign professionals should only be considered where it had been certified that local expertise was not available.

“The Federal Government shall introduce Margin of Preference in National Competitive Bidding in contracts, in the evaluation of tenders, from indigenous suppliers of goods manufactured locally over foreign goods.

“All Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) shall ensure that any professional practising in Nigeria must be duly registered with the appropriate regulatory body in Nigeria.

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“All MDAs shall ensure that for all consultancy contracts awarded to foreign companies, engineering drawings, necessary calculations, design, among others, are made available to their corresponding Nigerian partners, including arrangements with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as partners towards local production of needed materials,” the statement said.

It explained that Executive Order Number 5 was made to place Nigerian professionals and manufacturers at the centre of the nation’s economy.

The President said his administration would use Executive Order 5 to midwife a new beginning that would transform Nigeria’s economy from resource-based to knowledge-based and innovation-driven.

President Buhari said suppliers and contractors under the national competitive bidding process shall disclose local material (processed or unprocessed), were available and needed for the execution of projects. He added that designs for all contracts, programmes, projects, among others, shall be in English language before signing.

“The Ministry of Interior shall ensure that Expatriate Quota for projects, contracts, and programmes are granted according to the provisions of the Immigration Act and other relevant laws.

“This will apply where qualifications and competence of Nigerian Nationals are not available or cannot be ascertained, which shall be contingent on training a such number of persons as may be required for the execution of the contract or project,” he said.

The President, who is also Chairman of the Presidential Monitoring Evaluation Council, said the team would oversee the general implementation of the Executive Order 5, while the secretariat would be domiciled at the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, supported by the Strategy Implementation Task Office for Presidential Executive Order 5 (SITOPEO-5).

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Ogbonnaya Onu assured the nation that the Council would harness the human and natural resources of the country, reduce exportation of jobs and remove the current renting pattern, which fuels inefficacy.

The National Industrial Court on Thursday ordered Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, to pay its former employee, Dr. Adekunle Oyeyemi, the sum of N10.3 million as general damages, terminal benefit, and salary.

The judge, Justice Ayodele Obaseki-Osaghae, delivering judgment also declared that the termination of the claimant’s employment was wrongful and in breach of the contract of his employment.

The court ordered the payment of N8.2 million as the equivalent of his 24-month salary as general damages.

The sum of N1.7 million was ordered as terminal benefits and N344,635 being salary in lieu of notice, to be paid within 30 days.

The judge held that the university’s unilateral review of the claimant’s employment conversion to Senior Lecturer was wrongful.

The court stated that the action was unsolicited and was designed to make the workplace intolerable for him and force his exit.

Obaseki-Osaghae stated that there was no wrongdoing established before the court that necessitated the termination of the claimant’s appointment with immediate effect.

“The words with ‘immediate effect’ have the effect of stigmatization.

“The termination of the claimant’s employment is wrongful and not in accordance with international best practices.” the judge ruled.

From facts, the claimant submitted that he was employed as a full-time Director of the University’s Counseling Centre from Oct.1, 2007, to Nov.15, 2016, when his appointment was terminated without any misconduct.

In addition, he stated that he sent an internal memo to the Secretary of the University Board to state his position against the board’s resolution on the issue of tenure of Principal Officers and Directors.

He further said that he got a reply letter informing him that his tenure as the Director of the Centre had come to an end and he was being redeployed to the Department of Psychology as a Senior Lecturer, which was against his terms of employment.

The claimant’s counsel, Funmi Falana, submitted that the termination of her client’s employment was done contrary to the institution’s law.

She, therefore, sought an order of reinstatement amongst other reliefs.

The defendant, on its part, submitted that the claimant was invited to a roundtable discussion when his service was no longer required in its counselling centre.

The university also stated that when the claimant was informed of its decision to transfer him as a Senior Lecturer on contract, he consented to the arrangement.

The university stated that it decided to retain the claimant as a Senior Lecturer on contract as a kind gesture as he was over 60 years as at the time and was due for retirement.