The Nation Newspaper

Tag: sack

  • Aftermath of NFF’s sack: ‘Sports Minister has hidden agenda’

    Aftermath of NFF’s sack: ‘Sports Minister has hidden agenda’

    An avalanche of reactions have continued to trail yesterday’s decision of a Jos High Court to sack the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), its Executive Committee members and the NFF Congress.

    Justice P.L Lot of a High Court sitting in Plateau State granted an Order of Interlocutory Injunction restraining Aminu Maigari and his Executive Committee members and the NFF Congress, from running the affairs of Nigerian football forthwith, pending the determination of the Motion on Notice before the court.

    A top source within the football house alleged that what transpired yesterday maybe akin to biblical face of Jacob and hand of Esau saga as he tried to paint a picture of a purported script emanating from the sports minister,Tamuno Danagogo.

    Speaking to SportingLife on phone immediately the news of the court judgement broke,the source wondered why the minister acted with military dispatch in ordering that Lawrence Katiken  act as Secretary General of the NFF, and to take over the full management of the federation.

    “We know where all these are coming from.If not why was the minister in such a hurry to ensure that the Aminu Maigari and his executive committee members were shoved aside”he began in the interview.

    Continuing,he said”The board deserved to be commended for elevating Nigerian football to an enviable height in the past four years instead of condemnation”

    Our source also warned of the obvious consequences of incurring FIFA’s wrath when football matters are dragged to court,a situation he believed could affect Super Eagles Nations Cup defence.

    “This is not what we should be talking about when the  Nations Cup qualifiers  start in less than three months from now.Those who are behind the law suit don’t mean well for Nigerian football” he added.

  • Heartland rescind sack threat on players

    Heartland rescind sack threat on players

    Heartland of Owerri have recalled some of the players that were given sack notice after the players showed renewed enthusiasm to remain with the Naze Millionaires beyond the end of this month.

    A release from the club’s coordinator, Oscar Keke recently said the players would have their contract terminated after strings of poor performances but the new General Manager, Prince Okechukwu Ibeh has asked that the case of the players be reviewed. He, thereafter, said that their sack notice be lifted.

    Meanwhile, in a related development, the management of Heartland FC of Owerri has given its players one week break to enable them rest and attend to domestic issues before returning to continue their training in readiness for the second stanza of the premier league campaign.

    Okechukwu Ibe approved the request by the technical crew to let the players off for a little period of time now that both the league and FA Cup programmes are on break due to the ongoing World Cup in Brazil.

    “The idea is to let the players refresh and those with injuries to recover before they would return to action,” he stated in a statement over the weekend.

    “We’re also using this period to appraise the performance of the team in the first round and seek ways to fortify it,” the statement added.

    The ‘Naze Millionaires’ witnessed some turbulence on the league table but rallied on time to occupy the 10th position before the mid-season break.

    Technical Adviser, Kelechi Emeteole has been requested by his employers to forward the list of potential new players and areas needed to be fortified in the team.

  • Youths call for sack of Alison-Madueke, Moro

    Youths call for sack of Alison-Madueke, Moro

    Traffic on the ever-busy DSC Expressway, Efunrun, Delta State, was disturbed yesterday, as hundreds of youths, under the umbrella of the Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front (NDPSF), called for the sack of two ministers.

    The protesters, led by Rex Anighoro, spokesman of the NDPSF leader, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, said the protest would be taken to Abuja, if President Goodluck Jonathan fails to sack the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke and the Minister of Interior Affairs, Abba Moro.

    The protesters, dressed in red T-shirts, imprinted with pictures of Alison-Madueke and Moro, carried banners and placards.

    They said youths supported President Jonathan and planned to stand by him, but noted that he must let the ministers go.

    Anighoro said the petroleum minister had ‘exhibited recklessness’, while the Interior minister had shown he has no value for life.

    “We want to say we support Jonathan and we intend to stand by him, but Alison-Madueke and Moro must go.

    “These people have given the opposition things to say against the president. If this is not heeded, we shall take this protest to Abuja and other places.

    “It is a shame that a nation as Nigeria can’t carry out a simple recruitment without wasting lives.

    “The Petroleum minister has let us down. Our mothers in the villages cannot afford three square meals. Diezani must go.

    “We, the youths of the NDPSF, in collaboration with youths from all parts of Delta, have come to demand that these ministers resign or be sacked by Mr President,” Anighoro said.

    Youths from the Ijaw, Urhobo, Anioma and other tribes in the state took part in the protest.

  • Dickson sacks seven commissioners

    Dickson sacks seven commissioners

    Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, on Thursday tinkered with his cabinet and sacked seven commissioners.

    The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Francis Egele; Trade and Investment, Mr. Ayakeme Massa and Health, Dr. Anapurere Michael Awoli, were asked to go.

    Others affected in the surprising cabinet shake-up are commissioners for Tourism Development, Mr. Nelson Belief; Special Duties (Federal Projects), Mr. Gesiye Isowo; Science, Technology and Manpower Development, Mr. Parkinson Macmanuel and Environment, Dr. Sylvanus Abila.

    A statement signed by Dickson’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the action was informed by “the ongoing re-organisation of Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for a more optimal implementation of the Restoration Agenda”.

    The governor asked the affected persons to immediately vacate their positions and hand over to the permanent secretaries in their various ministries.

    He expressed his gratitude to them for their commitment to “service, diligence, hard work and invaluable contributions to the successes attained by his administration in the last two years.”

    He wished them well in all their future endeavours saying he could call on them again to serve the state in other capacities.

    Dickson said: “The reorganization of the machinery of government for improved service delivery in the execution of Government programmes and policies as well as the redeployment of relevant officers will be a continuous exercise.”

  • CBN to sack bank CEOs with unpublished accounts

    CBN to sack bank CEOs with unpublished accounts

    Jobs of some bank Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and their Chairmen may soon be on the line. A Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive has warned that bank CEOs and chairmen who fail to publish their institutions’ accounts 12 months after the end of the financial year will be removed from office.

    The order was contained in the CBN’s Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade and Exchange Policy Guidelines for Fiscal Years 2014/2015 released at the weekend.

    The regulator will continue to hold the Board chairman and CEO of a defaulting bank directly responsible for any breach and impose appropriate sanctions, which may also include barring the CEO or his/her nominee from participation in the Bankers’ Committee and disclosing the reason for such suspension.

    In accordance with Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act -BOFIA (2004)–banks are required, subject to the written approval of the CBN, to publish not later than four months after the end of each financial year, their audited financial statements (balance sheet, and profit and loss account) in a national daily newspaper.

    The CBN said to facilitate the implementation of consolidated supervision, all banks, discount houses and their subsidiaries shall continue to adopt December 31, as their accounting year end.

    The CBN also said other sanctions may include suspension of the foreign exchange dealership licence of the bank and its name beingsent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, where such offender is a public quoted company.

    The CBN said it would continue to adopt the risk-based supervision (RBS) approach in the supervision of institutions under its regulatory purview. “The objective of the RBS approach is to provide an effective process to assess the safety and soundness of banks and other financial institutions. This is achieved by evaluating their risk profile, financial condition, risk management practices and compliance with applicable laws and regulations,” it said.

    It enjoined banks to pursue profitability in their business models through efficient operations, adding that they should charge competitive rather than excessive rates of interest in the course of their transactions. The lenders are also to disclose their prime and maximum lending rates as fixed spreads over the Monetary Policy Rate.

    The CBN said it would sustain the use of macro-prudential regulation, and top-down quarterly solvency and liquidity banking industry stress testing, in assessing the health of banks. Similarly, banks would continue to conduct and submit to the CBN their quarterly bottom-up solvency stress testing report.

  • From the Villa: Sacking a winning team?

    From the Villa: Sacking a winning team?

    There was a bombshell in the Federal Executive Council Chamber last Wednesday when the Sports Minister, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi was dropped from the cabinet.

    Unusual of him, President Goodluck Jonathan surprised some ministers, top Presidency officials and journalists when he named Danagogo as the new Sports Minister after he and 10 other new ministers were sworn in.

    When the President made the announcement without explaining whether Abdullahi, who was absent at the meeting, was sacked from the cabinet or re-assigned to another ministry, many in the chamber thought the President might have made a mistake and might have wanted to name the new man as Minister of State for Sports.

    Abdullahi, who was said to be unaware of his sack when the rug was pulled off his feet, was air-borne to Poland where Nigeria’s athletes are participating in the World Indoor Athletics Championships.

    The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati was able to get across to the President and later confirmed to journalists that Abdullahi was actually sacked. No reason was given.

    Many of those in the chamber that morning were taken aback by Mr President’s surprise package as it was never in their imagination that morning that a minister under whose tenure unprecedented achievements were recorded in the sports sector could be shown the way out just like that.

    But from the grapevine, it was gathered that his sack was not unconnected with his alleged below expectation role during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rally in his home state, Ilorin, Kwara State on Monday last week.

    He is believed not only to be a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), but accused of 100 per cent loyalty to the actors in the APC-controlled Kwara State.

    But many stakeholders have frowned at the sacrifice of merit on the altar of political or other considerations given the interest and unifying factor sports play in the lives of Nigerians.

    Right from the moment the news broke, there have been mixed reactions trailing the sack of the minister. While some hailed the development, others regard the action to be against national interest, claiming that it was wrong to sack the head of a winning team.

    Reacting to the development, President of the Federation of Public Service Games (FEPSGA), Victor Orji, even though he commended Abdullahi for transforming the sports sector and bringing Nigeria back to winning ways, maintained that the development would not have any negative impact on sports development in Nigeria.

    “Government is a continuum. So, the new minister will just have to continue with the development programmes on ground. Since the Director-General of the National Sports Commission and the other directors are still on ground, they will not want to disrupt the good things the former minister has put in place,’’ he said.

    But the National Beach Volleyball Coach, Chakuma Ismail, said Abdullahi’s removal when Nigeria was witnessing positive changes in sports could be a disservice.

    In the same manner, FCT Volleyball Coach, Zulu Usman expressed fears that Abdullahi’s programmes might be halted by the new minister which will adversely affect the progress on ground towards taking Nigeria’s sports to a new height.

    “Abdullahi has a good record because we achieved more successes during his tenure, more than some other sports ministers. I feel he should have been left to continue,’’ he said.

    Abdullahi’s Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Julius Ogunro listed the achievements of his boss to include Nigeria winning the prestigious Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in South Africa in February 2013 after 19 years, the Super Eagles’ qualification for the Brazil 2014 World Cup and Golden Eaglets winning the FIFA Under 17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirate late last year.

    Other achievements, according to him, included Nigeria becoming number one nation in Africa in athletics and weightlifting.

    “Never in the history of African athletics has one country been winner of the senior, junior and youth championships at the same time. Nigeria has won the whole three in the last two years. First we won the Senior Athletics Championship in Port Novo (June 27-July1, 2012), followed by the inaugural Youth Championship in Warri, Delta State (March 2013) and lastly, we won the Junior Championship in Mauritius (August- September 2013),” he said.

    He went on: “After 14 years absence on the medals table of the IAAF World Championships, Blessing Okagbare won two medals for Nigeria in the last IAAF World Championship, which took place in Russia in August 2013.  She won a silver medal in long jump and a bronze medal in the 200 meter race. The last time Nigeria won any medal was at the Seville’99 IAAF World Championship in Seville, Spain, where Gloria Alozie and Francis Obikwelu won a silver medal in the 100m hurdles and a bronze medal in the 200m respectively.”

    While stressing that funding and smooth running of the Nigeria Premier League has never had it so good under Abdullahi, he said the ex-minister held the first ever National Youth Games for athletes between the ages of 13 and 17 in December 2013 with over 300 special talents discovered for Nigeria.

    According to him, Abdullahi, who met a football sector that was in total disarray with many conflicts and court cases, was able to settle the issues and made the warring parties embrace comprehensive peace deal in the sector.

    Based on the blueprint of the Presidential Retreat on Sports and the failure of Team Nigeria to win a single medal at the London 2012 Olympics Games, Abdullahi was said

  • Anichebe’s manager sacked

    Anichebe’s manager sacked

    Victor Anichebe’s manager at West Brom, Steve Clarke, has been sacked following a 1-0 loss to Peter Odemwingie’s Cardiff City in the English Premier League.

    It will be Clarke’s fourth loss in a row which left them just two points above drop zone.

    And the game was the first time Nigeria international Odemwingie, will play against his former club since leaving the Baggies in the summer after a six-month unhealthy relationship.

    Peter Whittingham scored a 65th minute goal to seal three points for Cardiff.

    Anichebe was not listed for the encounter following an injury.

    Clarke had been set for fresh contract talks in the New Year but the club said Saturday evening’s decision to dispense with the Scot – and place him, along with assistant Kevin Keen, on gardening leave – was the board’s unanimous decision.

    Joint assistant head coach Keith Downing will assume control of first-team affairs while the club searches for a successor.

  • Plot to sack Amaechi thickens

    Plot to sack Amaechi thickens

    The plot to remove Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi seems to be gathering more stream, following a meeting in Lagos yesterday.

    Sources said that a deposed governor, a minister, a senator and other top Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders flew into Lagos by a presidential jet to strategise on the plan.

    Details of the meeting were unknown, but a source said it was to explore the lagal option to get Amaechi out of office.

    There is tension in Rivers State, following the Court of Appeal’s ruling that Celestine Omehia, the former All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate, could challenge the ruling of the High Court that Amaechi’s first term ended on May 29, 2011. The governor is challenging the ruling at the Supreme Court, which has fixed the hearing for November 11.

    Pro-Amaehi forces have alleged plans by certain PDP leaders to remove the governor. Now, they are alleging that “certain powerful forces” want to influence the court’s decision against the governor to get rid of him politically. It has been difficult to impeach Amaechi, since the National Assembly took over the polarised and crisis-ridden Rivers State House of Assembly.

    The legal option, sources said, became an attractive route to explore by the anti-Amaechi forces, who have assured the PDP leadership that the governor could be nailed at either the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court.

    Amaechi is challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal to join Omehia in the matter. But, another politician, Cyprian Chukwu, had initiated the substantive case to determine when the tenure of the governor began, following a time-table by the Electoral Commission in 2010 for the governorship elections in the state in August, 2011.

    He argued that since the Supreme Court had in 2007 ruled that it was the PDP that won the April governorship poll that year, Amaechi’s tenure should start counting on May 29 of the same year, and not October 26 when he was sworn in, after taking over from Omehia.

    However, the Felix Obuah-led PDP Executive Committee has called Amaechi not to drag the Supreme Court into politics by misinterpreting its decision on matters before it. According to the party, Amaechi’s interpretation and information on the October 3 decision of the Supreme Court did not reflect the true position of the apex court.

  • Senate endorses sack of 3, 000 NIMC workers

    Senate endorses sack of 3, 000 NIMC workers

    The Senate yesterday endorsed the sack of 3,000 National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) workers.

    The upper chamber also directed NIMC to reinstate 96 disengaged officials of the commission.

    This directive followed the consideration and adoption of the report of the Joint Committee that considered the petition by 4,029 disengaged members of staff.

    The lawmakers agreed that each disengaged person be paid one year salary as take-home severance allowance using the same formula that produced the earlier approved package. The package will now stand at N621,953.00 as the lowest and N1,441,735.60 as the highest.

    The committee noted that some of the dismissed workers falsified their records. Others were dismissed for being absent from work for months.

    It said that those that were not satisfied with their dismissal could seek redress in a law court as most of the allegations centered on criminality.

    The NIMC management, according to the committee, said that the number of disengaged officials was 3,099 in the first instance and not 4,099 as stated by the petitioners. The staff strength currently is 1,891.

    The committee, according to the management of the commission said the disengagement was done across the 36 states and Abuja and no state was specially targeted in the exercise.

    The committee said it found out that the Governing Board of NIMC approved HND and B.Sc as the new minimum entry level qualifications for the Commission.

    It said that “the economic and security situation in the country make the disengagement of over 3,000 employees from one establishment inadvisable, hence the secretariat of the Committee undertook a rigorous certificate verification and screening where the certificate of employees were examined.”

    It said that while 218 persons listed their names as having additional qualifications, 96 were found to have actually acquired the new minimum qualifications of HND and B.Sc as at the end of last year.

  • Edo may sack striking teachers

    Striking members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Edo State may be sacked for staying away from work.

    The state government has threatened to invoke the no-work-no-pay rule for the striking teachers.

    Members of NUT began the strike on June 1, following the non-implementation of the 27.5 per cent Teachers Special Allowance.

    The government was paying 17.5 per cent after an agreement with the teachers.

    Governor Oshiomhole gave the warning at a meeting with executive members of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, (ASUSS).

    Oshiomhole said his administration could no longer allow anyone to continue to disrupt the school’s academic calendar.

    The governor approved the full payment of 27.5 per cent to secondary school teachers with effect from July 1 and described the NUT strike as illegal.

    He said the members of the NUT who are not working would not be paid for the period they did not work.

    The governor said: “Because they are employees of the local government, I have directed the local governments to meet and decide what to do about those teachers who have refused to come to work.

    “If the local governments listen to my advice; not only will it apply no work, no pay, we cannot continue to keep our schools closed.

    “At a point those who want to come will be encouraged to work and those who do not want to work will be encouraged to stay away permanently.

    “We will provide employment for those who wish to take advantage of the employment that will arise.”

    The governor explained that he arrived at the decision because the NUT was part of an agreement that approved 17 per cent prior to when the state’s finances improve.

    “I believe the teachers have completely abused this understanding and they have decided to hold the system to ransom. I believe it is time to deal with the issue squarely and put it behind us.

    “If they are under the illusion that anybody is going to increase their pay while they are on strike that is not going to happen.

    “I have directed the Commissioner for Education to discontinue the assessment for promotion exercise as it concerns primary school teachers.

    “ If they are at home, the promotion exercise as it affects teachers is also suspended”, he explained.

    Deputy President of ASUSS Broderick Ighalo thanked the governor for the approval given for the promotion of secondary school teachers and the payment of the special allowance.