Group asks Ododo to handover, stop acting as National Theatre CEO
The Concerned Stakeholders of the National Theatre has called on the former General Manager of the National Theatre, Prof Sunday Ododo to handover administrative and managerial powers to the next in line at the parastatal.
The group also urged Ododo to stop acting as the CEO following his removal and replacement by President Bola Tinubu.
The group gave the advice on Wednesday after it observed that Prof Ododo has been attending to official duties in the capacity of the CEO after he had held farewell meeting with management and staff on Monday.
They alleged that the former CEO moves about with government vehicles which he ought to have handed over to the parastatal as he was removed from office.
Speaking on the implication, the spokesman for the group, Lekan Ayinde said the presence of the embattled Prof Ododo could disrupt the on-going investigation, noting that vital documents and numbers could be tampered with or altered in the course of his continued stay in his office after he has been removed.
According to him, CEOs of other parastatals and agencies have stayed away from office and handed over authority in accordance to the Public Service rules.
While wondering why the situation at the National Theatre and the case of Prof Ododo is different, he appealed to concerned authority especially the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy to wade into the matter and ensure his compliance to the Public Service code.
He said, “The continued stay of Prof Ododo in office points to only thing and that is the perversion of justice. I wondered why he has been coming to the office and engaging in ceremonial activities to the Palace of a referred monarch since he has been removed and replaced by the Federal Government. Our fear as concerned stakeholders is that he could tamper with vital documents and alter figures that could lead to the root of the investigation.
“The anti-graft agencies are already on the allegations levelled against the embattled Prof so are the DSS and the police so we expected that they would have moved into action to prevent the unexpected from happening.
“A lot happened at the National Theatre under the watch of Prof Ododo. As Concerned Stakeholders all these need to be investigated if for anything for the sake of justice and the preservation of our national pride and integrity.
“We, the Concerned Stakeholders are therefore bothered about the continued stay in office of Prof Ododo in office after he had held farewell meeting with management of the parastatal on Monday. We perceive as bad omen that is capable of undermining the course of investigation and of justice if allowed to continue.
We are therefore calling on the Federal Government, President Bola Tinubu and the supervising ministry under Hajia Hannatu Musawa to intervene and ensure smooth transition of powers to the newly appointed CEO or the next in line at the parastatal.”
