TheCable

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, says the former members of the Investments and Securities Tribunal (IST) were an embarrassment to the federal government.

The minister was speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of Azi Isaac as chairman of the tribunal, and Nosa Osemwengie as a member.

“The tribunal has in the last five years suffered many setbacks due largely to poor administration. These setbacks have blurred, if not completely wiped out, whatever modest achievements the Tribunal might have recorded in its adjudicatory role, ” she said.

“We may recall that in November 2015, the tribunal was dissolved and the chairman and its members relieved of their jobs. A new panel of the tribunal, which includes many of the members here seated, was inaugurated in 2017.

“Again, barely two years into your tenor, the chairman of the tribunal was removed. The problems with the tribunal had been infighting amongst members, lack of industrial harmony and a series of complaints bordering on mal-administration. These have been the bane of the tribunal and source of embarrassment, not only to the ministry but the federal government.”

Isaiah Idoko-Akoh, former chairman of IST was sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari in September 2019.

Before his sack, a committee was set up by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate charges of corruption levelled against him by the staff union of the IST. The committee found nothing.

Ahmed charged the new chairman to function as a good leader to ensure stability of the IST.

She also told the members of the tribunal to cooperate with the chairman and perform their duties effectively.