The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Olayemi Cardoso has sacked Mr Adesoji Ogungbesa and Mr Mustapha Oladeji Mohammed-Jimoh from the board of the Nigeria Security, Printing and Minting company for gross abuse of office and violations of laid down principles, a discreet has revealed to LeadingReporters.
The source also hinted on possible prosecution of the duo by the anti-corruption agencies over abuse of office, and mismanagement of funds. Recall that LeadingReporters has previously made publications on the illegal employment of Adesoji Ogungbesa and Mustapha Jimoh, whose employment were said to have been facilitated by one Mr. Olakunle Abiola, a former aide to a deputy governor Emem Usoro of central bank of Nigeria. Mr Olakunle Abiola was later sacked for falsification of his credentials.
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The CBN source who revealed this to LeadingReporters hinted that the Central Bank Governor may not end at just dismissing the duo but may hand them over to the anti-corruption agencies for proper investigations and possible prosecution if found culpable. The source said that despite series of intervention from politicians and top religious personalities from South West Nigeria, the governor was quoted to have said that sentiments had no place in his quest to position MINT and other affiliate organisations to perform optimally under his watch.
“The governor bluntly refused all the overtures made to him to upturn his decisions about the sacked board members. He has vowed to personally ensure that MINT lives up to expectation in terms of service delivery.
Meanwhile, LeadingReporters investigation revealed that both Adesoji Ogungbesa and Mustapha Oladeji Jimoh were beneficiaries of a backdoor employment arrangement as both lacked the prerequisite qualifications to sit on board of MINT.
A copy of the panel of interviewers’ report dated 22nd of December, 2023, following an interview conducted on the 21st December, 2023 exclusively obtained by LeadingReporters revealed that both Adesoji Ogungbesa and Mustapha Oladeji Jimoh did not qualify for the positions of Executive Directors. While Mustapha, a Chartered Accountants with long practicing experience was said to have been limited by his age (63 at the point of interview), Adesoji Ogungbesa was said to have no verifiable credentials to enable him work for the position of Chief Financial Officer which he was vying for at the time of interview. Another limitation was the salary he claimed to have previously earned (N71m/pa which our investigation revealed is false) from his former employer, Sahara Group, as against N11m/pa payable for position of a senior manager in MINT.
Adesoji Ogungbesa, despite not qualified for the position of a Chief Financial Officer was said to have approached his friend Olakunle Abiola who manipulated the process that eventually landed Adesoji as an Ag. Executive Director, Corporate Services.
The source said that Mr Olayemi Cardoso is currently sourcing for highly technical and competent hands to join the board in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renew Hope Agenda.