The mystery surrounding the resignation of the Chief of Staff to Ogun State Governor, Mr. Olusegun Ogunsanya, crystallised yesterday.

After series of denials last week, Governor Ibikunle Amosun finally declared yesterday that his appointee may not be able to assume duties.

Amosun had on May 31 announced the appointment of Ogunsanya as his Chief of Staff while also approving the appointment of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Special Assistant (Media and Communication).

Until his appointment, Ogunsanya was the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola, Sabco, Kenya.

The key appointments by the governor was said to have generated disquiet in the ranks of the state chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as some party chieftains allegedly felt sidelined in the selection of the appointees.

Late last week, however, speculation was rife that Ogunsanya had resigned as Chief of Staff, although Amosun, through his spokesperson, Mrs. Funmi Wakama, dismissed it, saying the news was unfounded.



Informed sources said Ogunsanya, a financial consultant and chartered accountant, suspected the new job might be less rewarding compared with the multinational’s. He was also said not to be happy with latest happenings in the state.

But yesterday, Amosun offered reasons why Ogunsanya would not continue as his Chief of Staff, saying the latter’s employers, Coca Cola, have insisted that “he fulfils the mandatory disengagement procedure as well as period of notice as contained in his contract of service.”

A statement signed by Wakama and made available to reporters in Abeokuta also stated that a new Chief of Staff will soon be announced by the governor.

The governor’s spokesperson noted that Ogunsanya may not be able to assume duties because his requests for withdrawal from the services of his multinational company “were a little more difficult to meet within the time frame he and the government would have preferred.”

The statement reads: “The nominee for the office of Chief of Staff to Ogun State Governor, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, whose appointment was announced on May 31 may not be able to assume duties.

“This is because his present employers, Coca-Cola International, have maintained he fulfils the mandatory disengagement procedure as well as period of notice as contained in his contract of service.

“Ogunsanya, who is presently the Managing Director of Coca Cola Kenya and executive committee member of the East and South Africa operation of the company, was in Abeokuta after his appointment was announced to confer with Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

“He returned to Kenya to agree his final withdrawal from the services of the multi-national company but found out that as a top executive, his requests were a little more difficult to meet within the time frame he and the government would have preferred.

“Governor Amosun had chosen Ogunsanya based on his vast experience and managerial skills which would have been useful in view of the great challenges ahead of the administration.

“As a responsible government, we will not want to cause any strained relationship between Mr. Ogunsanya and his employers after he has risen to such a high position which makes him a pride to Ogun State and indeed the nation. We will also not want to jeopardise the chances of other Nigerians in the Diaspora who strive to attain such enviable heights in global organisations.

“However, as a government determined to be sincere and transparent with the people of Ogun State, even in its quest to hit the ground running, it is constrained to inform the public that a new Chief of Staff will soon be announced.”

The former Chief of Staff holds a B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and is also the Vice President, American Chambers of Commerce, Ghana; Director, Post-graduate Medical School, Ghana and member, Global Compact Initiative of the United Nations.

Meanwhile, former Speaker of Ogun State House of Assembly, Soyemi Coker, has taken the state government to court over alleged infraction of the Constitution and the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Coker, on behalf of himself and other members of the G11 in the dissolved sixth session of the House, is demanding a declaration that the resolutions and bills purportedly passed recently by a group of their colleagues under the leadership of former Speaker, Tunji Egbetokun, were illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.

In an originating summons filed by his counsel, Mr. Gbenga Ojekunle, before a High Court, sitting in Abeokuta, the state capital, Coker also sought a declaration of the court that the assent given by Governor Ibikunle Amosun to the bills illegally passed by the Egbetokun group was illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.

The state government and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice were joined as first and second respondents in the suit.

Egbetokun and 14 other lawmakers of the sixth legislature who were suspended on September 6, 2010, recently reconvened plenary after eight months and reversed all the resolutions reached by the legislature under Coker.

Some of the bills passed by the G15 members had also been assented to by Amosun before the seventh session of the Assembly was inaugurated last week.

Miffed by the development, Coker approached the State High Court, seeking interpretation of Cap. 123, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, Vol. 8, 2004.

The former speaker is asking the court to determine whether anybody other than him had the legal power to convene the dissolved sixth Assembly, which purportedly met on June 2, this year.

The claimant also wants to the court to determine whether the suspended members, who had been absent from House proceedings for more than nine months, could still sit as members to pass laws and resolutions for the state under the newly-inaugurated government.

Coker also urged the court to determine whether Amosun can validate laws and resolutions illegally passed by the suspended members after they have ceased to be members of the House.

He, therefore, sought a declaration that Egbetokun and the other14 suspended lawmakers who purportedly sat as members of Assembly on June 2 had ceased to be such members by operation of law and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The claimant also demanded a declaration that the purported sitting of the suspended members was illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.

He further sought a declaration that all the executive acts of the past state government, contracts, concessions, agreements and any other governmental action based on the existing laws at the time are valid, subsisting and binding on state.

Coker also sought a perpetual injunction restraining the government from reneging on its contractual obligations, agreement and other executive actions taken by the past government based on the existing laws at the time.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the matter.





http://www.compassnewspaper.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7910:amosuns-chief-of-staff-resigns&catid=308:headlines&Itemid=600

Obviously, he is afraid of OGD's landmines.

eh, amosun please get your act together