The controversy surrounding the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer/ Postmaster General for the Nigerian Poster Service, NIPOST has yet to settle.
Laolu Akande, a spokesman for former Vice President Yemi has alleged a plot by some elements in the government to undermine and probably embarrass President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to show that he’s not in charge of his government.
Last Wednesday, President Tinubu appointed Tola Odeyemi as the new postmaster General and chief executive officer, CEO, after sacking Adeyemi Adepoju from the post.
Odeyemi’s appointment among other recent appointments of chief executives of federal government agencies, was contained in a statement signed by Ajuri Ngelale, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.
Barely a few hours after the appointment, a statement on the NIPOST website claimed that Adepoju had been reinstated by the president.
In the now-viral statement, the sacked NIPOST boss thanked President Tinubu for reappointing him, promising to elevate the agency to a “world-class digital postal service.”
Not long after the statement was posted, another viral video surfaced where some employees of the agency were seen protesting the appointment of Odeyemi, calling for the reinstatement of their former boss.
The belief among close watchers of what is going on in the agency, is that the protesters were sponsored by some interests in NIPOST who are not happy with the president’s appointment of Odeyemi to take over from Adepoju.
Speaking on Channels Television, Akande condemned the protest, describing the NIPOST staff behavior as unruly.
The former presidential spokesman also accused some government officials of trying to undermine President Tinubu, adding that there should be severe consequences for civil servants who breached extant Civil Service rules.
Akande who blasted the protesting NIPOST staff for “locking out” Odeyemi after her appointment by the president called on the government to call unruly civil servants to order.
“It’s left to the authority to ensure that things are done right. I just think this must be part of the civil service reform” process, he said.
Recall that some staff of the Ministry of Works recently shut the gate on David Umahi after he tried to punish them for coming to work late. The minister would later beg the workers to allow peace to reign.
According to Akande, the president should be seriously concerned that some people in his administration are trying to undermine him, calling on the Chief of Staff to the President and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, to intervene on the matter.
Meanwhile, watchers of the Presidency insist that a statement should have been issued to affirm the appointment of Odeyemi, which according to them would have cleared the air over the issue.
The silence from Aso Villa, they say, has obviously left the issue of the substantive NIPOST chief executive in ambiguity.
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