Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has been in the news in the past 24 hours over the sack of 46 workers working in one of his companies, Gotel Communications, on Friday.
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The action of the former vice president also generated outrage because the sack of the workers was announced on May 1, International Labour Day.
But the Vice President said in a statement signed by, Gotel General Manager, Mohammed El Yakub, explained that the workers were asked to go as part of the ongoing rationalisation of staff at Gotel Communications Limited, a subsidiary of Priam Group.
El-Yakub further explained that Atiku had last 24 December announced that his companies will be consolidated under the Priam Group and that the restructuring will lead to rationalization of the workforce which will necessitate some members of staff of the group being be laid off, with their full disengagement benefits paid to them.
“The press statement of December 24, 2019, stressed that owing to the restructuring exercise and merger of companies, some personnel may have to be disengaged.
”It is also not unexpected that a restructuring procedure of this size and nature would come with some likely job rationalisation especially, since each of these entities has its own finance, admin, marketing, HR and ancillary support operations which would now be consolidated and undertaken at the group level”, Paul Ibe, Media Adviser to the Founder and former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar had said in the statement unveiling the Priam Group.
“It should, however, be noted that the current decision to right size the workforce in Gotel Communication Limited is the climax of the on-going restructuring exercise which was initiated last year.
“It will therefore out of context to ascribe any mundane presupposition for being responsible for the decision to lay off some of the workforce in Gotel Communication Limited.
“Following the unveiling of Priam Group last year, Atiku Abubakar, ceased to be involved in the running of the affairs of his companies. The decisions taken so far, and especially as it relates to the rationalisation of staff, is solely a management decision.
“It needs to be restated that we shall, as a responsible organisation, discharge every obligation to the laid off staff and any other staff that may be involved in the rationalisation exercise of any of the companies under the Priam Group”.
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