The Nation Newspaper

Tag: sacks

  • Delta sacks Customary Court president, others

    THE Delta State Judicial Service Commission has sanctioned some members of its staff for offences ranging from misappropriation of funds, dereliction of duty, gross insubordination and incompetence.

    The head of the commission and Delta State Chief Judge, Justice Marshal Umukoro, ordered the sack of the President of Oshimili South Area Customary Court, Asaba, Mr. Patrick Ifeanyi Nwachukwu on allegations bordering on incompetence and indiscriminate striking out of cases. The commission also compulsorily retired the Assistant Director John Nwokobia, for unauthorized/illegal withdrawal of sums of money from an account operated by the court and converted same for personal use. Also dismissed was Mr. Matthew Happy Edirin (a driver) for abandonment of duty, negligence, insubordination and gross misconduct.

    Another staff identified as Akpotohwho was demoted from the post of Chief Driver GL. 07 to that of senior motor driver mechanic GL. 06 while Mr. Augustine Akatugba was issued a warning letter. Two others, Mr. Patrick Ezeute and Bridget Ogunmola were exonerated by the commission. The case of another member of staff, Mr. Ebute Moses, who allegedly converted to personal use, monies ordered by court in suit to be lodged into an account, was deferred

  • Niger APC sacks majority leader

    Niger APC sacks majority leader

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Niger State has removed Majority Leader of the House of Assembly, Ibrahim Dandodo.

    Dandodo, who represents Rijau Constituency, will be replaced with Nura Garba (Kontagora I).

    The sack was contained in a letter to the Assembly, where the party requested it to recognise Dandodo’s removal.

    However, some lawmakers have resisted this move, saying only lawmakers have the powers to elect their leaders.

    This development  has caused a cold war between the party leadership and lawmakers, as the party threatened to deny them tickets in 2019 if they refuse to act upon the letter.

    The lawmakers are standing on the House of Assembly Standing Order, Page 6, which states that the election of the Speaker and his deputy is the responsibility of members, while the rules of the House gives power to lawmakers to select their leaders.

    A lawmaker, who pleaded for anonymity, confirmed the receipt of the letter.

    He said the APC lawmakers were neither consulted nor involved in the decision.

    Efforts to get party’s secretary, Mohammed Liman, to comment were unsuccessful.

  • Masari sacks Education commissioner

    Masari sacks Education commissioner

    Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari has sacked the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Halimatu Sa’adiya Idris.The sack takes immediate effect.

    The governor said Idris’ sack is to allow for the appointment of active politicians to fasten governance.

    A statement by his media aide, Abdu Labaran Malumfashi, said the commissioner’s sack was contained in a letter signed by the governor.

    The statement reads: “Prof. Idris’ contributions towards the development of education cannot be over emphasised.

    “During her tenure, schools were rehabilitated and new ones were built. Teachers were trained and the atmosphere upgraded to make it more conducive for learning and teaching.

    “However, it has become necessary for the government to bring more active politicians on board so as to fasten governance considering the fact that political activities leading to elections would begin early next year.”

  • Ortom ‘sacks’ aide for anti-party activities

    Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has sacked his Special Adviser on Economic Matters and Investment, Dr Bem Melladu.

    A letter from the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Anthony Ijohor (SAN), thanked Melladu for services rendered and wished him well.

    Dr. Malladu acted as SSG for about seven months when the former SSG took ill.

    Sources said his sack might not be unconnected with his association with those opposed to the All Progressive Congress (APC).

  • Flood sacks motorists on Lagos roads

    Flood sacks motorists on Lagos roads

    Motorists and commuters had a hectic time on major Lagos roads yesterday following torrential rainfall which left all major roads flooded.

    The rains, which started at dawn and lasted till mid-day, created flash floods on Agege Motor Road.

    The floods practically took over three major bus terminals – Ladipo, Shogunle and PWD – on the Ikeja-bound axis of the three-lane expressway, leaving broken down vehicles in its wake.

    A major traffic gridlock quickly built up and snaked from Ladipo to G. Cappa, on the outward-bound carriage of the express, as well as from Ladipo to Capitol Road, on the Agege Motor Road, and up to Egbeda, on the Iyana-Ipaja end, inward-bound Oshodi.

    Many motorists bemoaned the  situation that has become a common feature on the Agege Motor Road, a federal road axial in the state.

    They recalled a similar occurrence last Thursday, which left the entire axis prostrate for about 20 hours after similar rainfall.

    Solomon Oladele, a commuter said he spent five hours on a 35-minute distance (Agege to Oshodi).

    Lamenting what he described as a recurrent nightmare, Oladele wondered why the government had remained unconcerned about the plight of Lagosians who make use of the road.

    When reminded that government had awarded a contract for the construction of a BRT lane on the Oshodi Road, Oladele said the contractor should show more sympathy to the plights of motorists and commuters using the road, by urgently carrying out remedial work on the spot causing gridlock.

    “Let the state government direct the contractor to begin urgent remedial works on the collapsed drainage that was causing the flood in the area, while they continue the major work on the road. That way, they would convince us they do not intend to see us dead before the new road is delivered next year,” Oladele said.

    Similar gridlock was recorded across the state. Many stranded commuters were trekking, when it became apparent they could not get bus to their destination.

    A middle aged woman with  a baby strapped to her back broke down in tears when speaking with our Correspondent. She said she walked from Ikeja to Ladipo.

    “I am tired, I walked from Ikeja to this place (Ladipo), and I’m still going to FESTAC Town, I don’t know how to make it to Oshodi,” she said breaking down in tears shortly before a Good Samaritan  offered her a ride.

  • Kogi sacks 200 varsity workers, ASUU alleges

    Kogi State University (KSU) in Anyigba, chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said about 200 of its members were screened out of service during the recent staff verification by the government.

    Its Chairman, Dr Daniel Aina, disclosed this while speaking to journalists in Lokoja, the state capital. He said the ongoing strike would only be suspended if all issues relating to arrears of salaries, 2015 employment, contract and sabbatical staff were resolved.

    The union also said government must resume the monthly instalmental payment of the 2009-2014 arrears of the Earned Academic Allowances (EAA). According to Aina, the KSU management must pay the outstanding balance before ASUU can call of the strike.

    The union, however, hailed the government for reconstituting the Governing Council of the university, saying the government must also address payment of salaries to all categories of its members.

    Aina said: “Payment of salary arrears of the KSU teaching staff is the pathway for the amicable resolution of all outstanding issues. This is because our salary arrears of February and March 2017 have been left out, while the government pays the employees of other tertiary institutions in  the state, who have been on strike.

    “Since 2014, the government has never paid the staff monthly salary in full. The university administration has had to augment the recurrent short falls from its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). Even this uncompleted salary has become erratic.

    “The government must be told that the propaganda on salary payment is a ruse because artisans, traders and the business environment of the state do not enjoy the patronage that naturally flourishes when workers are paid.

    “It is pathetic that economic activities have been seriously hampered in the state due to the non-payment of salaries occasioned by the long-drawn and tortuous staff screening exercises. Many parents whose children and wards have been at home since the strike started, are yet to be paid their salaries.

    “Till date, several of our members have not received salary since June 2016. All employees of Kogi State University have not received their February and March 2017 salaries. Neither the government nor the university administration has paid anyone.”

    Aina expressed concerns over the consistently deteriorating working conditions among the academic staff in the university, saying it had led to mass exodus of staff. ASUU also said there had been sharp reduction in funds released to the institution by government, regretting that infrastructure and staff development in the school were for the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

    The union also condemned the disruption of the protest by students and their arrests by security agents, saying the use of force would not yield any fruit.

  • Customs sacks 17 for drug addiction, certificate forgery

    Customs sacks 17 for drug addiction, certificate forgery

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has dismissed 17 junior officers for drug addiction, certificate forgery, theft and absenteeism, it was learnt.

    NCS spokesman Mr Wale Adeniyi, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, said two others also had their appointments terminated for absenteeism, while one was retired for drug addiction.

    “Seventeen junior officers of the NCS have been dismissed from service for drug addiction, certificate forgery, theft and absence from duty from Jan. to Sept. 2016.

    “Investigations into offences committed by the officers in the senior category are being concluded, officers found guilty are expected to face stiff penalties.

    “These disciplinary measures were taken after a series of investigations and deliberations by the disciplinary committee, and recommendations were made to the management,” Adeniyi said.

    He said the process was a continuation of the reform agenda that the Comptroller-General, retired Col. Hameed Ali, promised upon his assumption of office.

  • Unity Bank sacks 215 workers

    Unity Bank sacks 215 workers

    Unity Bank Plc yesterday reduced its over 2,000  workforce by sacking 215 members of staff, it was reliably learnt.

    The exercise, it was further leant, was to enable the lender realign its operation and pursue a long term growth strategy.

    Some of the  downsized staff members were said to have opted to resign while management approved severance package for them in line with the bank’s policy.

    The lender last May, forged a strategic alliance with Black Trituium, equity and investment fund manager.

    The bank said it in a report on its website that it was driven by the vision to be the retail bank of choice for all Nigerians and “this is at the core of all that we do”.

    Investigation revealed that the affected members of staff were those that achieved less than 40 per cent of their performance target, which affected the lender’s overall profitability in recent years.

    The downsizing, which cut across all cadres including junior, middle and top management positions, happened at a time majority of banks are battling with poor profitability over harsh economic conditions and heightened business risks from the  plunge in crude oil prices.

    The bank is also said to have attracted specialist skills to its workforce since the relocation of its head office from Abuja to Lagos, which was in line with its plan to grow market share in viable clusters of the retail market.

    A source close to the bank said the new focus of the business has led to significant enhancement of human capital in its various business units.

    This was with a view to injecting fresh ideas, initiatives and energies to strengthen its various departments with capabilities to pursue the attainment of strategic business focus in the Agricultural financing, retail/Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and development of rural economy.

    It bank, it was further leant, recently hired about 200 new staff to drive the transformation initiative while about 100 other staff were said to have been promoted.

    Commenting on this development, an industry expert asserted that these exercises are part of the hard choices that forward-looking organisations desiring optimum performance had to take from time to time to enable it deliver consistently on shareholders expectations.

    In the report on its website, the lender said it was one of Nigeria’s leading retail banks with 240 business offices spread across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. “We are Nigeria’s seventh largest bank by business locations,” it said.

    The Nation learnt  that the new investor in the bank, Black Trituium, was committed to making significant equity investment in the bank.

    This strategic alliance will expand Unity Bank’s business scope, strengthen its capital base and support the bank’s retail strategy while meeting the investment objectives of Black Trituium. The Black Trituium manages funds for individuals and institutions such as Trade Union Congress (TUC).

    The collaboration with the bank is expected to expand the retail and Small and Medium Enterprises segment of the bank. Investment analysts see this as a unique opportunity with the potential of broadening the bank’s customer base and provide long term stakeholders value.

    Furthermore, given the current economic outlook, this strategic alliance will come with immediate benefits that will enhance the capacity of the bank to meet the needs of its banking public.The alliance will also support government’s initiatives aimed at driving growth in the real sector through Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and retail products,  with particular focus on the agricultural sector.

    Unity Bank commenced operations in January 2006 following the merger of nine financial institutions with competences in investment, corporate and retail banking.

  • Fed Govt sacks striking resident doctors

    Fed Govt sacks striking resident doctors

     

    The estimated 14,000 resident doctors in tertiary hospitals who have been on strike were yesterday ordered replaced by the federal government.

    The action came after many failed negotiations between the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and the federal government over work condition, training and other welfare matters.

    The intervention by House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, also failed to get the doctors back to work.

    Minster of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole, yesterday directed that they should be replaced with others from the pool of applicants for the training programmes in the various disciplines.

    The minister issued the stern directive to Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) and Medical Director (MDs) of Federal Government Tertiary Health Institutions to fill the vacancies created by the  resident doctors who have abandoned their training programme by refusing to report for work.

    The directive, according to a statement by Mrs.Boade Akinola, Director, Media and Public Relations, ministry of Health, was contained in a circular signed by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Amina Shamaki and sent to the CMDs and MDs of the Federal Tertiary Health Institutions.

    The Circular reads: “It has come to the notice of the Management of the Ministry that some Resident Doctors in your establishment have voluntarily withdrawn from the Residency Training Program by refusing to report for training without authorization. Public Service Rule, PSR 030402 (e) is relevant. This is in spite of the ongoing negotiations on their demands put forward by the representatives of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association.

    “In view of this development, you are hereby directed to replace all the Doctors that have withdrawn their services, with others from the pool of applicants for the training programs in the various disciplines in order not to create ominous gap in training with attendant disruption of health care delivery in your facility.

    “Meanwhile, the Ministry is working with the panel on the review of the Residency Training Program in Nigeria, led by Professor Wole Atoyebi, the Registrar of the National Postgraduate Medical College, to fast-track the development of a comprehensive blueprint for postgraduate training of doctors in the country.

    “Please, ensure immediate compliance.

    NARD President Dr Muhammad Askira, had explained that after critical analysis of issues affecting NARD at an “extra-ordinary National Executive Council, (NEC) meeting, the NEC observed that there were some processes still on-going in resolving the impasse between government and the doctors, and that the efforts so far made by government had not yet met the doctors’ demands.

    The NARD president said there were issues yet to be attended to by government. He said:  ”Resident doctors who work in states of the country that were yet to be paid their salaries; skipping and all accrued arrears for doctors yet to be implemented in most hospitals in the country; unpaid December salaries of doctors in some federal hospitals, and, house officers’ entry steps have not been effected.

  • Court of Appeal sacks Thisday Dome

    •Orders its immediate vacation

    The Court of Appeal in Abuja has ordered Leaders and Company Limited operators of the popular events center – Thisday Dome – in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to vacate the land on which the centre is erected.

    A three-man panel of the court, in a judgement on June 15, ordered Leaders and company to yield possession of the land measuring measuring 1.73 hectares and situated at and known as Plot 702 Cadasral Zone A00, on which Thisday Dome is erected, to Abuja Investments Limitedý (AIL)  with immediate effect.

    The judgment was on the appeal filed by Leaders and Company challenging the decision of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory delivered on May 26, 2014 which  directed the AIL to take possession of the said events center.

    The Court of Appeal, in a unaninous decision read by Justice Abubakar Datti Yahaya,  held that the appeal lacks merit and accordingly dismissed it.

    Justice Yahaya said: ”There is no doubt that the appellant (Leaders and Company Limited) has gone to the length it had, only to continue to keep using and occupying the premises of the respondent, fully knowing that it is not so entitled. The sooner we realise in this country, that business should be done substantially in good faith, the better for us.

    “This entails honouring agreements entered between parties so that peace and development would be the end result. This is one case that should not have gone to court at all. This appeal lacks merit in toto and I dismiss it, with N100,000 costs to the respondent against the appellant” he declared” he stated.

    Justice Yahaya noted that”it is clear from the record that ýthe respondent had led documentary and oral evidence in support of its case.

    “The tenancy agreement was clearly for a fixed period and definite period of two years and it had expired without proof by any party, that it had been renewed, when, by who and on what terms.

    “There was no evidence led by the appellant, satisfactorily establishing that it had paid all the rents due and had vacated and delivered up the ýpossession of the premises to the respondent.

    “It has been shown that the statutory notice of owner’s intention to recover the premises had been duly served on the appellant which had not filed any application to challenge it.

    “In the circumstance, the trial court had properly evaluated the evidence led before it, had applied the law correctly, and had arrived at the correct conclusion.

    “There is no feature in it that would warrant interfering with the judgment since it is the duty of the trial court to evaluate the evidence and make primary findings of facts. When correctly done, an appellate court cannot interfere,” Justice Yahaya said.

    Other members of the three-man panel that heard the appeal – Justices Tani Yusuf Hassan and Joseph E. Ekanem – agreed with the lead judgment.

    AIL, through its lawyer,  Chief Chris Uche (SAN), urged the Court of Appeal to grant it immediate possession of the property and compel the appellant to pay it  N39,495,429.30 being arrears of rent for half of the two-year term, still unpaid to it by the Leader and Company and the N3,291,285,77 per month as mesue profits from May 1, 2007 until possession is given up.

    AIL contended that the lease agreement entered into by the two parties for a fixed period of two years expired on August 31,2009 to May 1,2011 for  N78,990,858,50, which the appellant failed to pay at the expiratýion of the tenancy agreement.