Disquiet at FCT as board chair refuses to quit position

There is uneasy calm at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Secondary Education Board (SEB), following an allegation that the chairman of the governing board, Dr. Moroof Akinwande, has refused to relinquish his position as directed by the federal government, recently.  Akinwande was alleged to have proclaimed himself as the agency’s chief executive officer after the […]

There is uneasy calm at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Secondary Education Board (SEB), following an allegation that the chairman of the governing board, Dr. Moroof Akinwande, has refused to relinquish his position as directed by the federal government, recently.
 Akinwande was alleged to have proclaimed himself as the agency’s chief executive officer after the boards of parastatals, agencies and institutions were recently dissolved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The dissolution, which took effect from July 16, affected administrative and technical committees and other similar organs established by the boards.
A statement from the Presidency said that until the boards were reconstituted, chief executive officers of the affected agencies should refer matters requiring the attention of their boards to the president, through their supervising permanent secretaries.
Daily Trust gathered that the chairman of the governing board of secondary education and other chairmen in the FCT have refused to relinquish their positions, arguing that the president’s directive did not affect them.
Meanwhile, this development has caused a division among the staff of the agency.
Some documents obtained by the Daily Trust, including a memo and a copy of the circular signed by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Danladi I. Kifasi, on the dissolution of boards of federal government parastatals annd agencies, referenced FCTA/E&T/S,1769/vol.1 dated 24th July 2015, listed about 12 boards of agencies dissolved, including FCT Secondary Education Board.
The memo read in part: “Contrary to the vision of establishing the FCT SEB and the expectation of its staff, the Board inaugurated in 2012 has not impacted positively on the management and running of the  FCT SEB  but have impeded its smooth operations and efficiency.”
It said that the disposition of the chairman and approach to his office is akin to that of a “Sole Administrator,” adding: “He is using the FCT SEB as an experimental guinea pig to hone his Management Skill, albeit in a rather unorthodox, crude manner.”
The memo stated that Akinwande was attempting to claim the status of Chief Executive/Accounting Officer and Chairman, Tenders Board, adding that the claim was clearly wrong.
“Yet he continues to arrogate to himself powers and responsibilities that are outside the scope of the office of Chairman, thus acting with impunity and disregard for laid down Civil Service procedures.”
Daily Trust gathered that the accounting officer who is also the secretary to the board retired July 12, 2015, while the chairman was allegedly trying to change the signatories of the office’s accounts in order to have access to the account, something he could not manage to do when the accountant was around.
One source said that the law that established the agency provides that the chairman of the board should be a seasoned educationist, adding: “Dr Akinwande is a veterinary doctor and since he assumed the chairmanship of that office, till date, the board has never met more than twice.
“He is a politician who was appointed just like any other one, but today he wants to assume the duty of an accounting officer.”
The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Engineer John Obinna Chukwu, had through a statement signed by his Chief Press secretary, Muhammad Hazat Sule, Tuesday, reminded the affected agencies to comply with the federal government’s directive on dissolution and hand over all government properties and documents at their disposal to the directors of administration and finance.
The statement read in part: “Accordingly, the Permanent Secretary Engineer John Obinna Chukwu has further directed that all the Directors of Administrations and Finance (DAF) in the entire mandate Secretariats should ensure strict compliance with the directive of Mr. President.”
But a top official at the FCTA said that Akinwande was “given an appointment letter as executive chairman of the board and needed proper legal interpretation to quit his position.”
Efforts to reach Akinwande, yesterday, were unsuccessful and he could not reply text messages sent to him.