Toba Owojaiye ReportingÂ
There was an uproar at the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) secretariat in Abuja when one of the managing directors of agencies under the administration refused to relinquish their position, despite being sacked by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike. Last week, the FCT minister terminated the appointments of 21 agency and government company heads within the FCTA.
Among those affected were the managing directors/CEOs of Abuja Investment Company Ltd, Abuja Markets Management Ltd, Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company, Abuja Property Development Company, and Abuja Technology Village Free Trade Zone Company. According to a statement from the FCT minister’s office, the ousted heads were instructed to hand over their duties to the most senior officers while new appointments would be made later.
However, it has been reported that the sacked Managing Director/CEO of Abuja Markets Management Ltd (AMML) had not complied with the minister’s directive a week after his dismissal. Instead, he continued to report for work, ignoring the directive, and surrounded himself with private security personnel who harassed potential intruders.
The former AMML head, Mr. Faruk, relied on a Federal High Court judgment asserting that the FCT minister lacked the authority to redeploy or sack him based on the Company and Allied Matters Act. Despite being redeployed three years ago by the previous FCT Minister, he insisted on functioning as the CEO.
In response to the court ruling, the company’s shareholders removed Abubakar Faruk as the Managing Director of AMML in an Extraordinary General Meeting in July 2023. Nevertheless, Faruk obtained an injunction from the National Industrial Court preventing his dismissal.
This ongoing dispute has created divisions within AMML, with some staff and traders supporting Faruk, while others vacated the office and are operating from market offices under the Abuja Investment Company Limited (AICL)’s management, which took over the markets previously under AMML’s purview.
The situation has led to protests by staff and traders, who have called on the FCT Permanent Secretary to intervene and remove the embattled MD. Despite conflicting claims about whether Faruk has handed over, the public relations officer of AMML, Innocent Amaechina, stated that there was no information regarding the embattled managing director complying with the FCT minister’s directive to hand over his responsibilities.