By Sunday Ani
The Concerned Stakeholders of the National Theatre has urged the former General Manager of the agency, Prof Sunday Ododo, to hand over the administrative and managerial powers to the next in line at the parastatal and stop parading himself as the Chief Eexecutivr Officer. This the group said was sequel to his removal and replacement by President Bola Tinubu.
The group gave the advice yesterday after it observed that Prof Ododo was still attending to official duties in his capacity as the CEO, even after he had held farewell meeting with management and staff on Monday.
Speaking on the implication of his action, the spokesman of the group, Lekan Ayinde, said Ododo’s presence could disrupt the on-going investigation. He also noted that vital documents and numbers could be tampered with or altered in the course of his continued stay in his office after he had been removed.
According to him, CEOs of other parastatals and agencies have stayed away from office and handed over authority in accordance with the public service rules.
He appealed to concerned authority, especially the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, to wade into the matter and ensure his compliance to the public service code.
He said: “The continued stay of Prof Ododo in office points to only one thing, and that is the perversion of justice. I wonder why he has been coming to the office and engaging in ceremonial activities at the palace of a referred monarch since he has been removed and replaced by the Federal Government. Our fear as concerned stakeholders is that he could tamper with vital documents and alter figures that could lead to the root of the investigation.
“The anti-graft agencies are already on the allegations levelled against him, so are the DSS and the police. So, we expected that they would have moved into action to prevent the unexpected from happening.
“A lot happened at the National Theatre under his watch. As Concerned Stakeholders, all these need to be investigated, if not for anything, at least for the sake of justice and the preservation of our national pride and integrity.
“We, the Concerned Stakeholders, are therefore, bothered about the continued stay in office by Prof Ododo, after he had held farewell meeting with management of the parastatal on Monday. We perceive his action as bad omen that is capable of undermining the course of investigation and justice if allowed to continue.
“We are, therefore, calling on the Federal Government, President Bola Tinubu and the supervising ministry under Hajia Hannatu Musawa, to intervene and ensure smooth transition of powers to the newly appointed CEO or the next in line at the parastatal.”