 He blamed saboteurs for the frequent power outages during this period.After a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in March 2003, Modibbo Umar stated it had been decided to ban imports of toothpicks of any kind, bottled water, biscuits of all types, spaghetti and noodles.He was appointed Chairman of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Ltd. (PAN) in May 2003, as well as holding the post of Senior Special Assistant to the President on Research and Liaison.