The embattled chairman, Investment Securities Tribunal (IST), Idoko Isaiah Akoh, has raised an alarm that he was illegally removed from office, via a letter purportedly signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Dr Mahmoud Isah Dutse.
Akoh, who spoke to journalists on Monday in Abuja, said he was never at any time given fair hearing before he learnt about his sack, adding that he would not have raised any objection if due process was followed.
He therefore urged President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the matter and reverse the sack to enable him serve out his five-year tenure of appointment as the chairman of IST.
He traced his ordeal to the face-off between him and some members of staff operating under the auspices of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUCPTRE).
According to him, when he assumed office in August 2017, the union picketed IST, alleging poor welfare and undue promotion of some staff on the directorate cadre.
He said the union also insisted that some staff deployed from the Accountant General’s office should be sent back.
He said that though he was not responsible for the deployment of the staff, the union embarked on several protests against him at the federal Ministry of Finance accusing him of corrupt practices.
He said that every effort to see the then Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, proved abortive, alleging that the office of the permanent secretary had stopped him from accessing the minister.
“I challenged the union to state one case of corrupt practice perpetrated by myself and bring it to the public domain but they could not point at any.
“I made several attempt to meet with the then Minister of Finance (Kemi Adeosun) but every effort to see the minister proved abortive as the director of home finance could not allow me to see the Minister.
“I want to believe there are insiders behind all this. I appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to look into this matter,” he said.
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