President Muhammadu Buhari has terminated the appointment of the Chairman, Governing Board of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Tonye Clinton Jaja.
The letter of removal, dated October 15, 2020, was conveyed through the Office of the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Dayo Apata.
The letter, titled: ‘Notification of your removal as Chairman, Governing Board of the Nigerian Copyright Commission’ reads;
I have been directed to notify you of your removal as the Chairman. Governing Board of the Nigerian COpyright Commission by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, (JCFR1 as conveyed vide letter Ref: 593I2N/230 of 28m September, 2020.
Your removal is with immediate effect and you are, therefore, expected to handover all the properties of the commission in your possession to the Director-General.
It added;
While wishing you success in your future endeavours, please accept the assurances of the warm regards and best wishes of the honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
This comes shortly after Board members of Commission disowned a letter Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja wrote to President to sack the Director-General of the agency , Mr. John O. Asein.
Jaja had in a letter dated September 22 2020, requested the President to suspend Asien over alleged infractions.
However, the board members, in a memo to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami said they find the action of their Chairman embarrassing and in bad taste.
In the memo signed by Mrs. Maria Towo Austin-Odigie, a representative of the Federal Ministry of Justice on the board, and four others representing other sectors, said no resolution to that effect was passed by the Board, neither was the correspondence authorized or otherwise endorsed by the majority of them.
According to them, Mr. Jaja, in recent times, have orchestrated phantom allegations and petitions against the NCC Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
They said they have come to understand that the allegations are borne out of personal vendetta, undue interference in the day-to-day operations of the Commission by Chairman, as well as some unethical acts of the Chairman, in respect of allegations of plagiarism against him by the NCC Director-General.
While maintaining that no allegations of misconduct against Asien is before their Governing Board, the members said rather than focus on his primary function of steering the Board to help management deliver on the statutory mandate of the Commission, Dr. Jaja has devoted much of his energy to persecuting the DG since his application to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), asking to be converted to a full-time Chairman was turned down.
According to them, the unilateral and self-serving activities of Jaja, if not promptly checked, are capable of undermining the efficient running of the Commission to the detriment of the creative sector of Nigeria’s economy.
