FOLLOWING the removal of the Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mrs Sally Mbanefo, directors of the corporation have started fighting over who to act as the Director-General of the corporation till a substantial Chief Executive would be appointed.
According to one of the staff of the corporation who pleaded anonymity, “the directors were fighting over who is the most senior, because according to the sack letter, Mrs Sally Mbanefo should hand over to the most senior officer who will act as the Director-General.
“The desperation of the directors to be the Acting Director-General of NTDC is glaring hence they were happy over the removal of Mrs Mbanefo.”
The letter of removal reads: “I refer to the attached letter, Ref. No. SGF.6/S.23/1/568 of 8th October, 2013 in respect of your secondment from the Keystone Bank Limited to serve as Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) for a period of two years with effect from 6th May 2013.
“You may note from the foregoing that the period of your secondment at the corporation had since lapsed on 5th May 2016.
“Consequently, you are to handover the affairs of the corporation to the most senior officer on or before Wednesday, 30th November, 2016.”
It would be recalled that there was a tension in the corporation over the reinstatementof a retired director (Planning, Research and Statistics) of the corporation, Mrs Angelina Garba, to her position, two years after her retirement.
The corporation’s union alleged that Mrs Mbanefo wanted to reinstate Mrs Garba so as to handover to her when she would be removed or when her term expires.
Saturday PUNCH once reported that the Federal Government later set up a panel to investigate the engagement of the former Director (Planning, Research and Statistics) in the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, Mrs. Angelina Garba, to her position, two years after her retirement.
The report added that the government took the decision following speculations that the former Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, and the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, may have been misled into authorising the reinstatement.
The PUNCH had also earlier reported that the NTDC workers under the aegis of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees, an affiliate of the Nigeria Labour Congress, had in their protest letter to the relevant government agencies, claimed that Garba’s reinstatement was a ploy to ensure that she succeeds the current Director-General of NTDC, Mrs. Sally Mbanefo, whose tenure was said to have been controversial.
