The Nation Newspaper

Tag: reinstate

  • SGF, others yet to comply with Buhari’s directive to reinstate NDPHC GM

    SGF, others yet to comply with Buhari’s directive to reinstate NDPHC GM

    More than  two months after an approval  for her reinstatement by President Muhammadu Buhari, a former General Manager with Niger Delta Power Holding Company Nigeria Limited (NDPHC) Mrs. Maryam Danna Mohammed is still awaiting a letter from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal.

    The female General Manager was erroneously sacked with the Managing Director and Executive Directors of NDPHC on June 10, 2016 via a letter by the SGF.

    Out of the 13 General Managers in the agency, who are not management staff, she was the only one singled out for disengagement.

    But following a June 28, 2016 letter of appeal,  the President asked the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami (SAN), to look into the case, the NDPHC Act and give a legal opinion.

    The AGF discovered that the disengagement of Mrs. Danna Mohammed was in error.

    The President thereafter approved the reinstatement of the female GM, who was included on the sack list for “being a strict auditor”.

    The AGF ‘s letter to the SGF said in part: “Please refer to your letter, reference No. SH/COS/03/1/A/15 and our response ref. No. MJ/DSD/SH/22/Vol.1/38 dated September 7 on the above subject matter.

    “In this connection, I wish to convey to you Mr. President’s approval vide a meeting with the AGF and Minister of Justice on October 12, 2016 for the reinstatement of the staff (petitioner), Mrs. Maryam Danna Mohammed. Please accept the assurances of my highest esteem.”

    The reinstatement letter was sent to the Chief of Staff to the President and the SGF.

    Although it was alleged that the new management of NDPHC received the letter, it could not be immediately confirmed at press time.

    Findings, however, confirmed that the sacked GM was still left stranded despite the presidential directive.

  • Candidate promises to reinstate sacked Abia workers

    Despite may come the way of non-indigenous workers who were disengaged from the Abia State civil service in 2010. But that is if Chief Chikwe Udensi, the state’s governorship candidate of the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA), wins the election.

    Speaking at an event where his wife Chidinma distributed gift items to indigent women and widows in Aba, Udensi said that the sufferings of non-native workers disengaged from the state by the incumbent administration would end if he became governor.

    He emphasised that he would not only recall them but also pay their arrears.

    The PPA candidate said he was disturbed by the plight of the workers and decided to make it a priority, if elected, to address the injustice when he learnt that it was only workers from the core Igbo speaking states that were affected.

    He said it was wrong for the Igbo who he stated had been unduly treated in other parts of the country to also suffer the same fate in their land, stressing that it was more disturbing that workers from neighbouring non-Igbo  states were not affected by that mass sack.

    The former National Secretary, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) said apart from recalling the sacked workers, that he would pay their outstanding salaries and other entitlements if he won the election because, according to him, they were unjustly sacked.

    He also promised to pay retirees their pensions and gratuities.

    “Workers have suffered in this state, but I will definitely put smiles on their faces if I become the governor of the state after next month’s election. We are going to ensure that their salaries and other emoluments are paid promptly. A situation where retirees will stay for years without receiving their gratuity and several months before their pension are paid will be a thing of the past under our watch,” he assured.

    Prince Emeka Okafor, PPA state chairman who also graced the event thanked the women for standing solidly behind the party all these years despite all odds, adding “what Abia needs today after years in the doldrums is prosperity” which he said PPA represented and assured that the party would rebuild Aba and others parts of the state if it comes to power by May 29.

    He urged the women in particular and Abians in general to ensure they obtained their permanent voters cards (PVCs) and use them wisely during the election in order to get the desired change.

    The wife of the PPA governorship candidate, Mrs. Udensi said she decided to fete the women at this auspicious time due to her love for the poor in society.

    The organizer of the event said that she had in the past seven years through her NGO catered for the less privileged including widows, orphans and procured drugs HIV patients free, stated that this will be a continuous event.

    Some of the women who spoke randomly to newsmen expressed happiness over the benevolence of the wife of the PPA governorship candidate, stressing that this was the first time the wife  of any governorship candidate would be remembering widows in the state to the level Chidinma did and wished her and her husband well.

  • ‘Police must reinstate me before I die’

    ‘Police must reinstate me before I die’

    Mr. Martin Kayode is not a happy man. For years, he served the police in Delta State. He was supposed to have retired from the Nigerian Police Force in February  but he was dismissed before then and not even a 2005 Federal High Court judgement ordering his reinstatement worked in his favour.

    Nine years after the court judgment, Martin, who was a Sergeant as at the time he was dismissed, is battling to be reinstated. The Police Service Commission, in a letter by its Secretary,  E Gonda and dated June 7th 2010, asked Martin to report to the Inspector General of Police for deployment.

    The letter reads,:“In line with the policy of the Commission to obey all court Judgments and in compliance with the Order of the Federal High Court in Suit No. FHC/B/CS/112/2003 issued on the 12th day of April 2005, the Commission hereby reinstates you into the Nigeria Police Force with effect from 04/04/2001, the day you were dismissed.”

    In another letter to the IG, the PSC requested that Martin be made to undergo refresher course with a view to updating him.

    Martin, in an interview,  said he was not told what his crimes were after he was arrested while serving as a member of a Federal Tax Force of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) and was in charge of posting policemen on duty to guard pipelines in Warri.

    According to him, “I joined the police in 1979 as a Constable and I was dismissed from the police through a signal with Ref No. DT03112 on May 2001. I joined to serve my country. I served in Federal Tax Force in Delta State and other places. My problems started when I posted some policemen to Oregha River beat.

    “I ordered the arrest and detention of four out of the five police that went out for duty that night for not arresting pipeline vandals that came to vandalise pipelines at their beat. I was later arrested and was asked to resume duty after an orderly room trial.”

    Sgt. Thomas said the police officer who reviewed the case dismissed him and others from the Nigerian Police for conspiracy and economic sabotage.

    He said he filed a writ of summons at the Federal High Court in Benin and court gave judgment in his favor in 2005.

    He said, “After waiting for reinstatement, I filed contempt against them. The PSC went to court with my reinstatement letter, the letter was sent to the IG, till today, the IG has refused to obey the PSC or the court.”

    “I don’t want to die like this. The police must reinstate me and pay me my full benefits as a DSP.”

  • ‘Jonathan’s refusal to reinstate Salami a stain on democracy’

    The refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to reinstate the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, has been described as a “big stain on Nigeria’s democracy.”

    Speaking with The Nation yesterday, an elder stateman, Chief Deji Fasuan, said he wondered “why President Jonathan would not rise above the promptings of his party to reinstate Justice Salami in a case that has turned out to be an entire hoax as proved by the National Judicial Council (NJC).”

    Justice Salami, on August 19, 2011 was suspended by the NJC at an emergency meeting.

    He was directed to hand over to Justice Dalhatu Adamu and recommended to the President for retirement.

    The meeting was, according to reports, presided over by Justice M.A. Bello, President of a Customary Court of Appeal.

    Fasuan said: “The story of Justice Salami represents a black spot in Nigeria’s political history. As things are now, President Jonathan and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice are dancing to the tune of some politicians.

    “What could be holding the President back from reinstating Justice Salami after the NJC has cleared him of his alleged wrong? Remember the NJC recommended his suspension.

    “We say this country does not belong to any political party. It is inconceivable that a jurist of Justice Salami’s calibre should be used as a football played by the Presidency, Attorney-General and some powerful Southwest politicians who have much to hide.

    “The present situation is a stain in the political and judicial history of Nigeria. In the long run, Justice Salami would not be the loser. Whatever the outcome of this case, it is the integrity of our democratic system that will be adversely affected.”