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From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Chairman, DAAR Communications Plc., owners of AIT, Raypower and Faaji FM, Raymond Dokpesi (Jnr), has opened up on recent developments in the company, saying the retirements of the company’s directors was not a personal decision.
Dokpesi stated this following reports in the media regarding the retirement of the company’s executive directors who have occupied management positions for over a decade.
Dokpesi, who spoke with Daily Sun in Abuja, said the retirement of the directors was, in fact, long overdue going by the code of corporate governance and the internal documents of the company which state that management should only do a maximum of two terms of five years.
He specifically said the decision ought to have been made, even, as far back as five, six and seven years ago.
Dokpesi added that if he had his way, he would not for any reason allowed the affected directors to quit the company, considering their skills and experiences in the management of the company.
Dokpesi said: “I think the first thing to recognise is that it is not a personal decision to ask anyone to go. If I had it left to me and to myself, I would definitely want to harness the experiences, the relationships and the skills that the existing management has for a little bit longer. But the reality of the matter is that we are a publicly listed company. We are the only publicly listed media company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and that means we are also bound by the Securities and Exchange Commission rules and the code of corporate governance is mandatory for all publicly listed companies. So, that means our responsibilities to our shareholders transcend personal choices or personal opinions.”
Dokpesi further said it was true that when the tenures of the existing members of management are looked at, many of them had started at some points of management since the very inception of the organisation.
“We have persons whom are leaving the organisation after 27 years; we have people who are leaving after 22 years. The vast majority of this time, they have spent in executive management positions and yet, the code of corporate governance and our internal documents state we should only do a maximum of two terms of five years.
“So, their retirement is, in fact, long overdue. It was a decision which ought to have been made, even, as far back as five, six, seven years ago. But as of that time, my dad was still alive, very present and very active and also, we were going through different political turbulence as far as our organisation is concerned.
Nobody needs to be reminded of the history of the former president Muhammadu Buhari administration with reference to the treatment of AIT and our founder in particular,” Dokpesi said.
Dokpesi also said the decision at that time was that it might not be the best period in which to try to implement wholesome changes to the structure of the organisation.
“Notwithstanding, whatever you want to say about the incumbent administration, I think, to some large extent, they have shown their capacity for accommodation of all shades of opinions from public broadcasters.
“We don’t feel the heat and the intimidation of governments as we did a couple of years ago and the time is opportune and right as well for us to review where exactly do we want to go, going forward from here.
“For me, and I think also for the vast majority members of our board, the decision comes down to simply determine, do we want to continue on our existing trajectory or do we want to do something differently? And if we are looking at doing something differently, it means we have to subject ourselves to abide by the terms and conditions of extant laws and regulations to give the investing public confidence into our organisation and the administration and also to be able to attract the kinds of funds and investments we need to grow and expand beyond our existing programmes,” Dokpesi said.
Responding to what the development portended for the organisation, Dokpesi explained that as a public limited company, there were statutory committees responsible for appointing people into specific positions.
“We are talking about very senior levels of management here. So, we have a corporate governance committee whose task is to pursue the recruitment of alternatives, as well as headhunts from within the industry, those who are deemed to be capable, those who are qualified and have some track record of success in their various past endeavours to give us the confidence that yes, they can come in and fit in with the new plans and the new strategy we have going forward.
“But certainly, opportunities will open up for people, both within the organisation, to grow into new positions, but they shall also open up for other people from outside the organisation and from the broader sector of the industry of the broadcast media and entertainment industry and to also come in and play a role,” Dokpesi said.
