One month after the appointment of 11 new chief executive officers (CEOs) of agencies under the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture and Creative Economy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, there is uncertainty as some of the new CEOs are yet to resume duties.
The new appointments were announced on January 12 by the president’s special adviser on media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, and it was assumed that it will take immediate effect but some of the outgoing CEOs of parastatals under the ministry were seen on their desks, as against the former practice of the outgoing CEOs handing over to the most senior directors and leaving the jobs as soon as the announcement was made.
Daily Sun was informed by sources that the new Executive Secretary, National Institute for Cultural Orientation, Otunba Gbenga Ajiboye has resumed, while at the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), the outgoing Director-General Otunba Olusegun Runsewe is still in charge. The same applies at the National Gallery for Art (NGA), where the outgoing Director-General, Ebeten William Ivara was seen presiding over a meeting of the Gallery’s forthcoming event billed for the end of this month.
It was learnt that the outgoing Director-Generals’ are sitting tight because they are yet to get letters from the Federal government of their sack and this should be the reason why they are still on seat.
At the NGA, a source said the new Director-General, Ahmed Sodangi paid an unscheduled visit to the parastatals penultimate Thursday and inspected his office, library and registry as well as met with the acting directors of Human Resources, Educational Services, Finance and Accounts, Legal Services and Director, Special Duties.
His excuse for not resuming on time was that he is still undergoing documentation and will resume as soon as the process is concluded.
Speculations are rife that the new CEOs are yet to collect their official appointment letters. It was learnt that there is a communication gap between the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President and Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Another problem discovered by Daily SUN is at the National Commission for Museums and Monuments where the appointments of a chief conservator for the National War Museum and a director-general for the Institute of Museology and Archeology are causing ripples as both agencies were previously headed by directors under the commission. A staff who pleaded anonymity wondered if both CEOs will be answerable to the commission’s director-general.
The Director of Press Ministry of Art, Culture and Creative Economy declined to comment on the issue.