Segun Awolowo finally returns NEPC official cars but ‘backdoor’ handover put on hold

Segun Awolowo has finally returned the official cars of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), TheCable understands.

His tenure as executive director expired on November 28, 2017 but he was still calling the shots from home, reportedly because he had been promised a second term in office.

TheCable had reported how Awolowo, disregarding the bureaucratic tradition, was yet to hand over to the acting director.

In a memo dated December 4, 2017, Boss Mustapha, the secretary of the government of the federation (SGF), had directed all heads of agencies to hand over as soon as their tenures expire.

Days after the report, Awolowo returned cars meant for official use at the executive director’s office, sources have told TheCable.

“There is this car he uses intermittently, but he has now returned it permanently to the office. He has a driver who is an NEPC employee, and anytime he needed to go somewhere, he still called the driver, but since the news came out, he has stopped,” a source at the council said.

A Peugeot car with an escort, TheCable gathered, has also been returned to NEPC’s headquarters.

Awolowo has yet not tendered handover notes to Sidi-Aliyu Abdullahi, the acting executive director.

“He wanted to hand over backdated notes, but he was advised against it, that the right thing should be done,” an official of the ministry of trade and investment, the supervisory ministry, said.

“A date will now be picked for him to do hand over properly.”

TheCable understands Awolowo has been nominated for a second term but it is yet to be approved by the president.