‘Our Office Is Beautiful But We Are Suffering Inside’- NEPAD Workers Demand CEO Sacking
2 years ago 4 min read
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Staff members of the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) on Wednesday called for the sacking of its National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer Princess Gloria Akobundu.
In a protest at the NEPAD headquarters monitored by THEWHISTLER in Abuja, Akobundu was accused of maladministration and financial misappropriation since her inception in September 2016.
The staff members who relayed their grievances on placards said their “Office is beautiful on the outside but are suffering on the inside.”
They alleged that Akobundu has captured the government institution and transformed it into a family/private affair.
Speaking to THEWHISTLER, one of the leaders of the protest, Comrade Aliu Abubakar, claimed that Akubundu has refused to allow workers to carry out official duties but rather employed the services of non-NEPAD staff members.
He said, “The protest is all about maladministration and financial misappropriation that has been going on in this organization for almost eight years now under the leadership of Princess Gloria Akubundu.
“She has been the national coordinator and Chief Executive Officer for the past eight years because she was appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari, on the 26th of September 2016 and by the 26th of September 2016, it will be exactly eight years.
“NEPAD, Nigeria is a government establishment. But in a situation where somebody is running the affairs of the organization, like a private or personal entity, is not allowed.
“Gloria is not allowing staff to participate in various activities, programs and projects of the organization because every organization, we have two types of allocation. We have the overhead, and we have the capital.
“And under all these two overheads, there are activities that are supposed to be carried out by the staff of the organization. But unfortunately, what normally happens, instead of allowing the staff to participate in these activities, you see outsiders.
“Sometimes we’ll be in our various rooms. We just see on the television that some activities, some programs are going on. But to our greatest surprise, instead, we see other people who are non-NEPAD staff.
“So, what she normally does is to pick some outside to come and pretend as if they are NEPAD staff. Meanwhile, the real bonafide NEPAD staff are not the ones benefiting or participating in those programs.
“We lack working materials. If you go inside this organization, we don’t have working material, the working atmosphere in the organization is nothing to write home about. From the outside, you see that it’s a very beautiful building, but by the time you go inside, there are no good tables, no good chairs, no computers, no toners, no scanners, amongst others”.
Abubakar told THE WHISTLER that they had earlier written to the CEO as some of their walls cracking adding however that four years after, despite the committee set up in collaboration with staff from the Ministry of Works evaluation on the cracked pillars, nothing has been done.
In his words, “I was part of that committee. As I said, the former director, PRs, was the chairman of that committee, and we did our work, and the report was submitted. But up till now, nothing was done about it.
“This is almost three years, the pillars are still cracked, we have been agitating that there is a need for the management under the leadership of Gloria to come so we can make sure that where we are staying, our office is being maintained for us not to have any calamity or danger.”
He further accused the CEO of employing the service of an imposter to represent NEPAD Nigeria.
He said, “NEPAD was formed in 2001 under President Olusegun Obasanjo, and we have NEPAD continental, which is the headquarters in South Africa.
“Because we have other cities, the first person that was appointed by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, is Chief Mrs. Asika followed by Ambassador Tunji Olagunju. Ambassador Fidelia Injezi and currently Princess Gloria Akubundy.
“But under all these former seniors, the tradition based on our constitution is that an assistant director or a deputy director will be representing NEPAD, Nigeria in NEPAD continental.
“However what we are having now, since our inception, the person that is occupying that position, we don’t know him. He’s not our staff. We don’t even know where he’s from. And he’s not even a civil servant.
“But he’s been occupying that seat for all these eight years. And we have been talking. We drew her attention. There is a letter which we wrote several years ago from the union, drawing attention. There was a time, I think, about two or three years ago when we made that observation. And a meeting will held, which we discuss. And she agreed that she’s going to do the needful.
“But as I’m speaking to you, up till now, nobody knows the identity of the person who is representing NEPAD, Nigeria.
“We want to make sure that the federal government knows what has been going on in this office. And I want to use this opportunity to call on President Bola Ahmed to bail us out because we have been in bondage in the last eight years.”
