Kanyi Okeke
Following the decision by the Board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to send its embattled Director General, Aruma Oteh on compulsory leave, (If you missed it, read it HERE) Ms Oteh has petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan to reverse the order.
Following the resolution, the Board appointed the most senior member, the Executive Commissioner (Operations), Ms. Daisy Ekineh,
to take over as acting Director General and Chief Executive. Locks to
Ms Oteh’s office were changed leaving her stranded when she arrived her
office at the Central Business District, Abuja on Tuesday morning.
Also, contract staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
were barred from the commission’s premises. The 15 affected staffs are
believed to be those engaged by Ms Oteh.
However, a close aide of the DG revealed to PUNCH that the decision
to send her on compulsory leave was taken to ridicule her as well as
pursue an agenda of tenure extension.
“You will recall that all the members of the SEC Board, apart
from the DG, are due to end their tenure on the board this Friday, and
so coming up with this kind of thing now, surely, seems like a bid to
unduly extend their tenure.
“However, Oteh has a lot of options open to her, and she will
take the matter to her employer to query the decision of the board in
terms of due process and fairness. It is obvious that due process was
not followed in all this.”
To defend her position therefore, Ms Oteh, yesterday, petitioned the
Presidency and other relevant authorities over her suspension from
office by the Board of the Commission.
According to a source close to Oteh, she has already sent a letter to
the Presidency, Minister of Finance and other relevant agencies, with
the hope that she will be given fair hearing on the issue.
The source, however, said pending the response of the Presidency,
Oteh would not interfere and would allow the Board to carry out their
investigation, adding: “She has agreed to take her suspension from
office in good faith, saying that she will abide by due process, until
the Presidency wades into the matter.”
