NACETEM Governing Board Disowns DG/CEO

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

The Governing Board for National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM)  Ile-Ife, Osun State,  yesterday  contended it  was never a party to the appointment of Dr. Olusola Odusanya as the director general/chief executive officer (DG/CEO) of NACETEM.

In a statement  made available to THISDAY in  Osogbo yesterday, Chairman, NACETEM Governing Board, Hon. (Sir) Haastrup Adewale Olatunji, said the appointment was misleading as the legally constituted Governing Board of the agency  never interviewed Odusanya nor had any interaction with him at any time.

“Our attention has been drawn to the purported appointment of one Dr. Olusola Odusanya as the DG/CEO of NACETEM on the pages of many national dailies. This is misleading as the legally constituted Governing Board of the agency  never interviewed the ‘appointed’ DG nor had any interaction with him at any time”.

 “The governing board wrote several open letters to the former President Muhammadu Buhari on the surreptitious move of the former Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation, Chief Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh, to impose his anointed candidate on the agency against all known extant rules and without recourse to due process, the outcome of our outcry is one Dr Odusanya now parading himself as the substantive DG of NACET

Olatunji  stressed: “It’s unfortunate that what we anticipated to be the consequence of the action of Chief Henry Ikoh is playing out before our very eyes – avoidable crisis at the agency.”

“We need to stress that since the newspapers got awash with the purported appointment of Odusanya as NACETEM’s new helmsman it has sparked unending protests by the Union, particularly NASU who viewed the appointment as an affront on due process. As much as we are trying to douse the tension, it is imperative to make it clear to all stakeholders that  the Governing Board is not a party to the illegal appointment as the Board was completely sidelined by the former Minister of State, Chief Ikoh.”

 He added: “Let us reiterate for the umpteenth time that NACETEM Governing Board will never jettison due process for any primordial sentiments (pecuniary or otherwise) in the discharge of its duties. We consider our being in office as a position of trust and we will guard it jealously without any compromise.”

“As a result of our stance not to compromise due process, Chief Ikoh set up a parallel committee to select DG for NACETEM. We wrote letters to all known constituted authorities to admonish on the implications of the Minister’s actions. Despite all our efforts to make reason prevail, he went ahead with his plan. The illegal parallel  process instituted by Chief Henry Ikoh to appoint Odusanya attracted litigation by a public interest lawyer and all entreaties to make him stay action because of the court case still fell on deaf ears, as he eventually released letter of appointment to Odusanya.”

 The chairman noted that to put the records straight and educate the public properly,  NACETEM governing board is not a party to the appointment of Odusanya;

“His appointment did not follow due process, as it’s a concoction of Chief Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh, former Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation;”

“ His appointment is sub judicial as it’s an affront on the rule of law because of the subsisting case in court over the process.”

“His appointment is rejected by the governing board as even though he submitted an application initially to the NACETEM  Governing Board-duly constituted Selection Committee, he did not, like 10 others, get past the screening process, before the committee was halted by Chief Ikechukwu Ikoh  sometime in 2022 and went on to re-advertise our initial advertisement of the 2nd June June, 2022 on the 14th March, 2023 to suit his whims and caprices.”

“His appointment obviously seems an invitation to unmitigated crisis as evidenced by the protests that followed the announcement on the pages of newspapers of the purported appointment.”

 Olatunji, however, vowed that NACETEM will deploy all known legal means to uphold peace and progress of the agency.

“We call on  President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to probe the circumstances leading to the last minute ‘appointment ‘ of Odusanya without recourse to due process.