Connect with us


Uncategorized

5 things to know about dude who ‘sacked’ Pastor Adeboye

Published

on

The name Jim Obazee probably didn’t ring a bell until this week.

Up until President Muhammadu Buhari fired his a** on Monday, Obazee was the executive secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRN).

The FRN had enforced the corporate governance code for churches–which stipulated a term limit of not more than 20 years for heads of Churches in Nigeria–much to the chagrin of the Presidency and everyone else.

Enforcing that code made Pastor Enoch Adeboye who has been General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) since 1981, to step down.

Pastor Adeboye prays for Gov Fayose ((Punch))

Apart from the fact that Obazee will now be referred to as ‘former executive secretary’ of the FRN, here are five other things you should know about him.

a) Obazee is well read.

He possesses a BSc. in accounting from the University of Benin and an MSc. in accounting from the University of Lagos.

Obazee is also a certified strategic financial analyst in business evaluation from the famous Harvard University in the U.S.

b) In 2014, Obazee’s Financial Reporting Council recommended the sack of then Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

Then President Goodluck Jonathan was miffed with his CBN Governor who had alleged that $20B of oil proceeds were unaccounted for.

Former Petroleum Resources minister, Diezani (World Economic Forum/ICIJ)

Sanusi was pointing the finger at then Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

“If that kind of money is missing, America will know”, Jonathan swore on national television.

To get rid of the CBN Governor, Jonathan relied on a report by Obazee’s Financial Reporting Council which had accused Sanusi of financial recklessness.

It was a convenient document concocted at the behest of the executive arm of government.

Sanusi was suspended thereafter.

c) In 2013, Obazee’s personal assistant, Abimbola Yakubu, accused him of harassing her sexually.

In her account, Yakubu detailed how Obazee would keep her in the office after hours just to talk her into having sex with him.

“I close very late at night as a civil servant, not because we really have much work to do, but that’s when he finds it most convenient to talk to me about his love for me. He makes sure everyone has closed and we are left alone in the office to make his demands. I am grateful to God for the kind of husband I married who is very understanding”, she said in a letter written to the board of the FRN.

Obazee and former Minister of State for trade and investment, Samuel Ortom (PM News)

Ms. Yakubu added that before Obazee sacked her, he made sexual advances toward her during their official travels together.

“All of the time when we ought to retire back to our hotel rooms, he would call me to either come to his room if we are in the same hotel or he would call to tell me he was coming to my room. Other times when we stay in different hotels, like when we are in Abuja, he would call me sometimes very late at night to tell me he was on his way to my hotel.”

Obazee denied Yakubu’s allegations, stating that he only fired her because she wasn’t delivering at work.

d) Obazee fell out with Minister of Industry and Trade, Okechukwu Enelamah.

Sources in the know say the duo endured a frosty relationship and worked at cross purposes.

Obazee was appointed executive secretary of the FRN in 2010 and was re-appointed in 2015.

His second term of four years should have come to an end in 2018.

Lai Mohammed, Okechukwu Enelamah and Abdulrahman Dambazau at FEC meeting (Presidency)

But his constant friction with Enelamah and the fact that he refused to back down from enforcing the code that made Adeboye announce his resignation, made sure he was fired before his time in office was due to elapse.

e) Obazee loves to court controversy, so in 2015, he suspended Atedo Peterside as Chairman of Stanbic IBTC and imposed a N1B fine on the bank.

The offence?

According to Obazee, the bank had lied in its 2013-14 financial statements.

PS: The presidency named Daniel Asapokhai as Obazee’s replacement on Monday.

Nigeria’s top youth newspaper - actively working to deliver credible news, entertainment, and empowerment to 50 million young Africans daily.

Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending