Just In!! President Jonathan Fires NIPC Boss, Saratu Umar

President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked Saratu Umar, executive secretary of the Nigeria Investment  Promotion Council (NIPC). Reuben Abati, presidential spokesman, confirmed the development, saying Uju Hassan-Baba (right) has been appointed as Umar’s replacement.

Some NIPC workers had been appealing to Jonathan to dismiss Umar over allegations of “gross incompetence, high-handedness and staff intimidation”.

 “We renew our call for her immediate sack as any extra day she spends in the NIPC undermines the activities of the Commission and reverses the gains of Government in its bid to diversify the economy using private capital,” a recent petition signed by Ahmad Ghondi, chairman of NIPC union, read. The union even staged a protest that led to the paralysis of activities at the headquarters of the agency in Abuja on April 22.

During the protest, its members carried placards with inscriptions such as: ‘NIPC without management/Council’, ‘Saratu Umar must go today’, ‘Self-styled one-man management’, ‘No imprest to zonal office for eight months’. But Umar denied the allegations, saying some directors of the agency who were indicted for misappropriating NIPC’s funds were behind the protest.