Tension in NIPOST as Odeyemi defies protest, resumes as PMG

FG silent, workers demand Adepoju

Amid protest against her assumption of office as Chief Executive Officer and Post Master General (CEO/PMG) of Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST), Tola Odeyemi, nevertheless, resumed duty, yesterday.
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Odeyemi, who defied the action by workers sympathetic to former PMG, Sunday Adepoju, thereafter, met with the board and management of NIPOST, promising that her tenure will lead NIPOST into a new era of innovation, modernisation and transformation, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

She also assured that her leadership will leverage technology to make NIPOST’s logistics, e-Commerce, and other postal services reliable, efficient and effective.

As early as 9:00 a.m., the workers, who bore placards with varying inscriptions and chanted protest songs, had locked the gate of the NIPOST headquarters in Abuja, possibly to prevent Odeyemi from resuming office.

The Guardian learnt that Adepoju was in the office while the protest went on but left afterwards. The crisis rocking the establishment has dragged for about four days. However, the Federal Government is yet to wade in.
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Efforts to get a response from the Federal Government proved abortive, as Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Ajuri Ngelale, neither picked his calls nor replied to messages sent to his phone, as of press time.

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, last Wednesday, changed some chief executives in parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, a move that affected NIPOST. Ngelale had said Tinubu approved the appointment of Odeyemi as CEO/PMG.

However, last weekend, a statement from NIPOST claimed Adepoju had been reinstated “due to his exceptional leadership and performance”.There was no official communication from the Presidency backing this up.

Addressing the workers, President of the National Union of Postal and Telecommunication Employees, Nehemiah Buba, who alleged there had been past moves to kill NIPOST, said the sacked PMG should be allowed to continue the good work he started.

Buba vowed that the protest would continue, adding that the only thing that would make the workers return to their offices is a reversal of Odeyemi’s appointment.
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