The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) Staff Union has condemned what it described as an attempt by the sacked Executive Secretary, Ms. Saratu Umar, “to distract and disrupt her successor, Mrs. Uju Aisha Hassan Baba, from her efforts to restore sanity, professionalism and positive public image of the Commission which is recovering from one year of highhandedness, incompetence and immature leadership that had taken NIPC several years back.”

The union in a statement issued n Abuja over the weekend and signed by the Chairman, Ahmad Isah Ghondi, vowed to lead the staff of the commission to resist any attempt either directly or indirectly by Ms. Umar to disrupt its activities and cause chaos in the establishment.

“The NIPC has been enjoying considerable peace since the exit of Mrs. Saratu Umar whose tenure recorded no single achievement and was characterised by high level of incompetence. Ms. Saratu’s one year administration at NIPC did a lot of damage to the corporate image of the Commission and the country at large. It frustrated investors away from Nigeria and undermined investors’ confidence in NIPC and Nigeria,” Ghondi said in the statement, a copy of which was made available to News Express.

Continuing, he said: “It is very important to observe and note that it was former President Goodluck Jonathan’s Administration that appointed and fired Saratu when her level of incompetence became unbearable. It is against this background that we view the publication as the handiwork of Saratu Umar and her hatchet men attempting to reverse her sack and also portray her as a material for use by the current Administration. This, we view as unacceptable, unthinkable and laughable that the administration of President Buhari can consider appointing a personality like Saratu Umar into his Government. To do this will be tantamount to promoting mediocrity, which can never be associated with a credible Buhari administration.

“It is difficult to understand why Saratu claims to be fighting corruption when there is evidence that during her short tenure at NIPC; she had committed many financial infractions that question her so-called anti-corruption stance. This as far as we are concerned, her anti-corruption posture is a smokescreen to mislead the gullible and divert attention from her incompetence and those financial infractions.

“We therefore urge Mr. President not to be misled into promoting incompetence by reappointing Ms. Saratu Umar into any office in his promising Government.

“We wish to recall that the staff of the Commission had embarked on a three-day strike to demand for her sack based on observed incompetence, highhandedness and immaturity in charting the affairs of NIPC as Chief Executive.

“The NIPC Union is therefore calling on the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari not to cave in to Ms. Saratu Umar’s antics.”

The statement passed a vote on confidence on the new NIPC Executive Secretary. According to the union, “The new Executive Secretary, Mrs. Uju Aisha Hassan Baba, who has a good grasp of the enormity of the task of rebuilding NIPC and positioning it appropriately for the purpose of attracting investments into the country, is already putting in place strategies that will encourage both local and foreign investors to invest in the economy given her background and wealth of experience as a successful two-time Chief Executive and having come from the relevant Ministry that gave birth to the NIPC.

“The Union noted with pleasure that virtually all seeming insurmountable issues that had fueled the recent crisis, agitation and unrest that characterised the eleven and half months tenure of the sacked Executive Secretary, Ms. Saratu Umar had been resolved within few weeks, noting that staff of the Commission were once again, gainfully engaged and motivated to effectively deliver on its core mandate. The current Executive Secretary is repositioning the Commission with a view to restoring the confidence of investors in NIPC and Nigeria.

“She is also embarking on far reaching strategic planning that will enable NIPC play critical role in the efforts of the Buhari Administration to diversify the Nigeria’s economy beyond oil.”

•Photo shows sacked NIPC Executive Secretary Saratu Umar.

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