The Nation Newspaper Deepening boardroom crisis tears Eko DisCo apart
Directors are bickering over what they described as undue personalisation of board authority, abuse of due process and vested interests.
According to documents obtained, the crisis has become a polar fight between the chairman, Mr. Oritsedere Otubu and few directors on one side and majority of other directors on the other side, with accusations and counter-accusations of underhand dealings and impropriety. Integrity is the first of the six corporate values of EKEDP, which included excellence, responsiveness, value-driven, safety and empathy.
“I am very surprised at this turn of events because instructing the CLO to disregard a directive from the Chairman of WPG, her employer, can be considered an act of encouraging insubordination. This may easily be construed as setting a wrong precedent that could empower management staff to undermine the directors of the board at all levels.
However, not satisfied with the content of Etomi’s reply, Otubu responded insisting that the recall of the CLO to WPG was a nullity as far as he was concerned. Otubu wrote: “Dear Chairman, I’m kindly surprised at your letter as I had spoken to you on why your “Letter of Recall”’ should never have been issued in the first place and was therefore disregarded.
Etomi responded with a stinker that opened a can of worms. He wrote: “Dear Dere, Let me remind you that when you spoke to me it was more about how this matter can be suppressed and I told you very clearly that I would not stand for that. “Ernest , you have a good point and I agree with you, but you will also note that George has called for a WPG Meeting on the 19th and this matter is already listed on the Agenda. And in one of George’s mails to Dere, George has already said he will recuse himself. But your point was in order.
“The moment we undermine constituted authority we also in the process create room for our own authority to be undermined. Very serious allegations have been made against Wola, as a WPG employee it now becomes a WPG matter. “As a result of your alleged interference and approach to Etomi you have exposed yourself to allegations of unprofessionalism and inappropriate behaviour as a non-executive chairman. I therefore implore you Dere , for the sake of safeguarding your credibility as a non-executive chairman and to preserve our institutions, that you please urgently recall your e-mails and recuse yourself from the matter”.
“I believe Wola’s recall is the right thing to do in a matter of the gravity. Her subordinates will need to be interviewed and some of them taken on record. Her presence will intimidate them and she can interfere with the investigation process. It is the norm everywhere in the world where there is serious allegations of malfeasance or misconduct or misdemeanour, that such persons steps aside for thorough investigations to be carried out.
“A WPG committee should immediately be set up to investigate the allegations whilst Wola remains recalled until conclusion of investigations. Lastly Unity and Integrity should be our guiding principle in these very trying times,” Ani stated.Board members also felt dissatisfied with the way Otubu carried on with the constitution of a “Human Resources Investigation Committee”, raising objections to the terms of references, which were allegedly drawn up unilaterally by Otubu.
“We must be governed by the resolutions of the board, which is the highest decision making body of the company. Mr. Otubu is acting as an executive chairman, which he is not and definitely not an emperor as he is attempting to be. “I actually wanted to await the commencement of the meeting tomorrow before raising my concerns; but thought against that position as this pertains to falsehood and outright miscommunication of what we discussed at the board meeting, hence, this mail.
“Ultimately the truth will prevail. Please kindly consider my concerns and take appropriate measures to allow us abide by the board resolution on this subject matter”. Otubu wrote: “Recall that we have been under unprecedented assault from whistle blowers, the union and the press since the matter came up. You are kindly instructed to take action and protect the integrity and image of the company, the directors, shareholders and all stakeholders from such attacks.
“ On Friday, 12th, when another email was received from a whistle blower claiming himself/herself to be a staff, I requested JP to do a similar search, and he has now requested the originating email which I will forward to him shortly. “There is a feeling of resentment amongst staff at the way the company handled previous instance of job abandonment for relatively small amounts, yet here, a senior officer has been accused on a similar issue, and for much larger sums of money, yet no visible actions. There is a strong and growing perception of injustice and double standards”, she wrote.
“This will go a long way to assuage and pacify feelings which will give the time needed for the HR Committee to complete their investigation and submit their report to the board. “The person at the center of the allegations being investigated has recused herself from the company’s affairs, in area of invoking the Company’s CoS disciplinary measures, interdictment, Etc. In this context, her recuse from the company’s affairs should be absolute, so how can you now copy this person openly in a Board Meeting to discuss the allegations against her?
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