Sacked FCT Agency MD, Abubakar Faruk, Allegedly Refuses To Handover Two Weeks After
Ken Afor
There are speculations that Mr. Abubakar Usman Faruk, the managing director/chief executive of the Abuja Markets Management Ltd (AMML), is yet to formally transfer his duties to the institution’s most senior employee since being fired by Federal Capital Territory Minister Mr. Nyesome Wike.
It would be recalled that two weeks ago, Wike terminated the appointments of the heads of 21 Federal Capital Territory Administration agencies and government businesses.
Abuja Investment Company Ltd, Abuja Markets Management Ltd, Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company, Abuja Property Development Company, and CEO/MD Abuja Technology Village Free Trade Zone Company are just a few of the heads/MDs who are affected.
In a statement from the ministry, Anthony Ogunleye, the director of press, gave them the order to turn over the management of their offices to the most senior officers in their organizations.
But investigations revealed that the organization’s former MD has not yet complied with the order after a visit to the corporate office of (AMML), which is located at Adisa Plaza in the Gudu District of Garki.
According to information gathered, despite the directive, the MD has continued to report for duty and handle official matters.
Reports had it that the fired MD hired private security guards to protect him.
Mr. Faruk is relying on a Federal High Court ruling that states the FCT minister lacks the authority to either reassign him or fire him in accordance with the Company and Allied Matters Act, according to The Whistler.
But, according to the agency’s Head of Department for Corporate Services, Ibrahim Yahaya-Joe, the MD has left the company.
“Who told you that our managing director has not handed over. Did you see him in the office now? Whoever told you that our MD has not handed over should come and investigate it by himself. Let me inform you that our managing director is a very law-abiding citizen of the FCT,” reported the outlet quoting Yahaya-Joe.
However, the public relations officer of AMML, Innocent Amaechina, claimed he was unaware of any transfer of authority from the agency’s fired MD, despite the FCT minister’s directive.
According to him, “We are aware of some impending court cases involving the embattled managing director, and we are also aware of the ministerial directive. The most senior person in AMML is the general manager, Engr. Abbas Yakubu, and as we speak, he has not told us that anybody has handed over to him.”
It would be recalled that Faruk was appointed by the then-Minister of the FCT, Mr. Adamu Aliero, and was reassigned by the recently-departed FCT Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello, three years ago. Despite this, Faruk has continued to serve as the CEO of this government-owned company.
When he discovered Bello had approved his dismissal in the final days of the Buhari administration, he filed a lawsuit against his redeployment and won, maintaining his position as director of AMML.
Abubakar Faruk was fired as managing director of AMML by the company’s shareholders on July 17, 2023 during an extraordinary General Meeting. A few days after being duly relieved of his duties as the MD/CEO, it was claimed that Faruk obtained an injunction from the National Industrial Court barring anyone from firing him.
The company has since become divided between those in favor of and those opposed to Abubakar Faruk, according to a source who does not want to be named.
“Whereas a few of the staff followed him in his ignominy, the rest of the staff had to vacate the office and are now currently operating from one of the market offices following the Abuja Investment Company Limited (AICL)’s takeover of its markets, hitherto under the management of AMML. Abu Faruk has ‘dismissed’ all the staff who had opposed his continued stay as MD of the organization,”the source explained.
It was also discovered that Faruk’s lawyers had gone to court to file lawsuits in a number of his ongoing cases in an effort to have his dismissal declared invalid.
