By Our Reporter

LAGOS NOVEMBER 13TH 9URHOBOTODAY)-Tension mounts in the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC over the recent appointment of heads of departments in the agency by the management team led by the Managing Director, Chief Festus Ochunogor without carrying the board along.

According to our source, the next board meeting might run into stormy waters as the appointments fall short of due process and without board resolution as against the normal process of commissioners and the executive directors nominating candidates for HOD position and forwarding same to the board for ratification and approval.

But in the newly posted HODs, due process was disregarded causing friction among the board members who claim they were not aware of the meeting where it was delibrated upon.

In a circular dated 31st of October,2923, and signed by the Executive Director, Finance and Administration , Chief Oghenekome Okpobor, the management directed the newly posted HODs to resume in their respective offices on or before 2nd November,2023.

In the previous board meeting some of the members spoke vehemently against marginalisation of the commissioners which has played out in the posting and appointment of the HODs.

In what appeared to be vendetta , the HOD, Legal Department was removed on the premise that two senior staff were in the legal Department who are on grade level 15, surprisingly, the present board has a new HOD Adminisration on grade level  14 whereas, there are two grade level 16 senior staff in that department, thereby breaching civil and public service rules

What applied in the legal department ought to be replicated in Administration department. A situation of high handedness was exhibited when the executive management threatened to post any staff to area offices for any form of protest over the posting.

According to our source , the posting was carried out indiscriminately whereby some capable and experienced hands were dropped for no justifiable reasons. The executive management claimed that the posting was routine reshuffling meanwhile most of the HODs that were posted had spent barely one year as HODs whereas there are HODs who had been over ten years in a particular department who were not reshuffked.

Our impeccable source further noted that the HODs we’re mandated to canvass for PDP which is what they did as civil servants to support the government in power. They refused to succumb to APC and Ovie Omo-Agege promises only for the PDP govt to drop some of them and embark on indiscriminate posting just four months into their tenure after spending personal funds to work for the PDP.

The board members are anxiously awaiting the Chairman of the board , Chief John Nani to convene the next board meeting where they will vent their anger on the management for running the commission without the input of the entire board especially in a situation where a board resolution is required to authenticate a policy.

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