President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked the Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRN) Jim Obaze and ordered for the reconstitution of the board.
A statement by Presidential Media Aide, Garba Shehu said President Buhari has also appointed Adedotun Sulaiman, as Chairman and Daniel Asapokhai as the Executive Secretary of the Council.
Obaze’s removal, BusinessDay gathered from a government official is part of a recommendation made in a report submitted by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelemah.
“It was part of the recommendation made to the President and he signed it, I know he would have read through the reasons, but I am not privy to them” the official told our correspondent in a phone enquiry. The report and recommendations has been on the President’s table for a while now.
It can be recalled that Enelamah, and Obazee have been at loggerhead over a regulation by the FRCN which stipulates 20 years tenure for heads of religious groups and civil society groups in the country.
There have also been allegations of selective probe and violation of the Code of Conduct Bureau Act. Between Obazee and Enelamah there have also be reports of the insubordination and disharmony. Industry watchers have since urged the President to replace Obazee.
The statement signed by Shehu on Monday read “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate removal and the replacement of the Executive Secretary and the reconstitution of the board of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRN).
” He has appointed a Chairman and a new Executive Secretary for the council. The new Council as approved by the President has Mr Adedotun Sulaiman, MFR as Chairman”.
Sulaiman was a former Managing Partner/Director of Arthur Anderson and later, Accenture. He is a Chartered Accountant and a product of the University of Lagos and Harvard Business School.
The President has also approved the appointment of Mr. Daniel Asapokhai as the Executive Secretary of the Council.
Asopokhai is a partner and a Financial Reporting Specialist at the PricewaterHouseCoopers (PWC), Nigeria.
He is a product of the University of Lagos and the University of Pretoria.
President Muhammadu Buhari has also instructed the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment to invite the nineteen ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government and private sector organizations specified in the FRC Act to nominate members of the board of the council.
Recall that earlier report disclosed that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Okechukwu Enelamah, and Obazee were at loggerhead over a regulation by the FRCN which stipulates 20 years tenure for heads of religious groups and civil society groups in the country.
Elizabeth Archibong
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