konknaijaboy | On 21, Apr 2015

LAGOS—Anyim Dares Jonathan Over Sack Of Sports Commission’s Boss

 

 

Barely four weeks to the end of this administration, Secretary to the Government of the Federation Mr. Anyim Pius Anyim maybe heading for an ugly showdown with his principal President Goodluck Jonathan as he has defiled the directives of President Jonathan to relieve the Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Mr. Gbenga Elegbeleye of his job following accusation of gross misconducts and flagrant disregard for the office of the president.

 

Per Second News gathered that for over a month now, Mr. Anyim has refused to carry out the instructions of the president to sack the DG of the Nigeria Sport Commission, NSC.

 

Though the SGF has not come out publicly to state why he has refused to carryout President Jonathan’s orders, sources are claiming that Mr. Anyim is attempting to use delay tactics to keep the embattled Elegbeleye in office until the end of the Jonathan’s regime.

 

President Jonathan had last Wednesday via a letter directed  Mr. Anyim to sack Mr. Elegbeleye, following complains of gross misconduct as the head of the sports body since his appointment as the DG NSC.

 

Per Second News Tuesday obtained a copy of a letter signed by the President asking the DG to be relieved of his position. The letter which was signed by Senior Special Assistant to President Jonathan on Administration, Mr. Matt Aikhionbare, titled Re:Consideration for the appointment of a technocrat and a seasoned administrator as Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), with reference no Pres/81/SGF/4/489/36/HCSF/124/184/MSPT/NSC/59, dated April 15, 20015, President Jonathan expressly directed the SGF to sack the NSC DG with immediate effect.

 

Mr. President had on page four of the letter sent to him by the sports minister Dr. Tammy Danagogo, asked the SFG, on April 15, 2015 thus “the current DG is hereby relieved. please post Mr. Alhassan Yakmut as acting DG”.

 

Despite this directive by Jonathan,  Anyim, in a posture of ‘go to hell’ has brazenly sat on the letter and directed Elegbeleye to engage influential individuals and top politicians to intercede on his behalf with President Jonathan to keep his job.

 

“Mr. Anyim’s behavior is perceived as gross indiscipline and for a senior appointee of the president to behave like this shows that he does not have any respect for Mr. President,” a senior aide to the president said Tuesday evening.

 

Investigations by Per Second News shows that trouble started for Mr. Elebgeleye when he decided to continually disregard the directives of the minister of sports in the day to day running of the sports commission.

 

Our correspondent’s investigations revealed that Mr. Elegbeleye had in the last six months refused to take the orders of the minister in the financial and administrative management of the sports body and on several occasions told the minister that he would not take orders from him.

 

According to a top sports administrator in the ministry of sports “Mr. Elegbeleye had constituted himself into a mini-god in the ministry. He does whatever he likes without the knowledge of the sports minister or anybody for that matter and whenever the minister confronts him for an explanation, he tells him straight that he (Elegbeleye) is the accounting officer of the NSC and that he is not obliged to take orders from him.”

 

A case in question was when a director retired from the NSC about a month ago and Mr. Elegbeleye without recourse to the minister posted a replacement to the department and when he was confronted by the minister why he took the decision without his knowledge, the NSC DG was said to have simply told the minister that he does not take orders from him.

 

Our correspondent’s investigations revealed that frustrated by Mr. Elegbeleye’s disregard for his office, Dr. Danagogo, complained to the head of the civil service of the federation (HOSCF) Mr. Dalandi Kifasi, who on the strength of the minister’s statement wrote Mr. Elegbeleye, ordering him to rescind his decision.

 

Mr. Kifasi was said to have consequently posted a director to replace Elegbeleye’s appointee but the DG refused to respect the HOSCF’s directives and continued to retain the director he posted to hold forte at the department.

 

Angered and frustrated by Mr. Elegbeleye’s obstinacy and gross disregard for his office, Dr. Danagogo subsequently complained to President Jonathan via a letter of all the misconducts of the DG, and the president wrote Mr. Anyim ordering him to immediately “relieve Mr. Elegbeleye of his job” but for reasons best known to the former senate president, he refused to obey Mr. President’s directives.

 

As at the time of filing this report, Mr. Elegbeleye was still parading himself as the DG NSC and boasting that “there is nothing anybody can do to remove him from office”.

 

Outside the Elegbeleye’s saga, ministers and top Jonathan’s appointees have also accussed Mr. Anyim of cornering all appointments in agencies and parastatals and populating them with his advisers and cronies.

 

“Look at all the departments and paratstatals in most of the ministries, Mr. Anyim has filled them with his cronies and advisers. There is no minister in this government who can boast of appointing his choice of persons into any of the departments or agencies under them. None,” the source lamented.

 

More to follow

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