Nigeria’s Governance in Limbo: Growing Concerns Over the Non-Inauguration of Federal Boards By Raymond Enoch
More than a year after the Federal Government announced a sweeping list of board appointments across key ministries, departments, and agencies, a growing governance vacuum is triggering alarm among civil society groups, policy observers, and affected institutions nationwide.
The Forum of NGOs and CSOs for Sustainable Public Service has raised strong concerns over the continued failure to inaugurate Chairmen and Members of Federal Government Boards, Agencies, and Parastatals whose appointments were publicly declared to “take immediate effect.” In practice, however, many of these institutions remain stalled, unable to function at full capacity due to the absence of formal board activation.
By every standard of public administration, appointments without inauguration amount to governance in suspension.
Across critical sectors—including youth development, aviation, power, education, health, science and technology, infrastructure, environment, finance, maritime services, and social protection—newly appointed boards are yet to legally assume their statutory responsibilities.
The impact cuts across more than forty-six strategic institutions, among them the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET), Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), NIMASA, ITF, river basin authorities, research councils, as well as numerous Federal Medical Centres and Teaching Hospitals nationwide.
Despite the official announcements, the absence of formal inauguration ceremonies, instruments of office, and take-off briefings has left Chairmen and Board Members unable to convene meetings, approve policies, exercise oversight, or provide strategic direction.
The result is a widening gap between presidential intent and operational reality—one that undermines accountability, delays reforms, and weakens service delivery to Nigerians.
For institutions already grappling with funding constraints, industrial disputes, aging infrastructure, and declining public confidence, the prolonged delay further compounds existing challenges.
The contrast with the handling of ambassadorial appointments has not gone unnoticed. Following sustained public criticism and diplomatic concerns over Nigeria’s thinning representation abroad, the Presidency swiftly released a list of ambassadorial nominees, who were promptly screened by the Senate. That urgency underscored a recognition that Nigeria’s diplomatic interests could not withstand prolonged institutional silence.
Yet, similar urgency has not been applied to domestic governance structures—despite the fact that their impact on citizens’ daily lives is more immediate and far-reaching.
Board appointments, the Forum emphasizes, are not ceremonial gestures or political rewards. They are core constitutional and administrative mechanisms designed to provide policy direction, institutional checks, and strategic oversight. Leaving boards uninaugurated effectively concentrates authority within management structures, weakens transparency, and defeats the very purpose of board governance.
Nowhere is this more consequential than in the health and education sectors, where boards overseeing Federal Medical Centres and Teaching Hospitals play a critical role in approvals, supervision, and rapid response to operational needs. Delays here translate directly into slower decision-making and diminished service outcomes.
As Nigerians increasingly demand governance that moves beyond press statements to tangible results, the Forum is calling on the Federal Government to act decisively. It urges the immediate inauguration of all appointed Chairmen, Board Members, and Chief Executives, alongside the issuance of formal instruments of office to enable full governance operations.
Effective leadership, the Forum argues, does not end with announcements—it begins with empowering appointees to act. Until that happens, Nigeria risks running vital public institutions on administrative autopilot, a cost the nation can ill afford.
