Buhari sacks NPA boss, appoints BBOG founder & El-Rufai’s Chief of Staff, as replacement

Hadiza Bala-Usman, 40, was today appointed as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). She replaces Habib Abdullahi who was reappointed to the position in August 2015 after he was earlier removed from the post in April of the same year.

Others appointed were Mohammed Bello-Koko as Executive Director, Finance; Prof. Idris Abubakar, Executive Director Engineering; Dr Sekonte Davies as Executive Director, Marine Operations.

Usman was born on Jan. 2, 1976 in Zaria, Kaduna State and has a B.Sc. Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and a Post Graduate in Development Studies from University of Leeds, UK in 2009.

She worked at Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) from July 2000 to August 2004 as Enterprise Officer and hired by the UNDP for the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) from October 2004 to January 2008 as SA to the Minister on Project Implementation.

She worked, between 2011 and 2015, as Director of Strategy of the Good Governance Group, an NGO founded by the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and his friends.

She was also at the forefront of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign and in 2015, she was appointed as the Chief of Staff to Governor El-Rufa’i, a position she held until her present appointment.