The Chairman of the Board of Directors of DAAR Communications Plc, Raymond Dokpesi Jr, has said that the recent retirement from the management team of the company was long overdue.
He said this in an interview while commenting on the changes.
In a statement sent to the Nigerian Exchange Limited, DAAR Communications announced the retirement of 10 members of its executive management team.
They include Tony Akiotu, Dr Oluwatosin Dokpesi, Dr Ambrose Somide, Anthony Uyah, Ms Paulyn Ugbodagha, Mrs Mary Lawrence-Dokpesi, Ms. Faith Ikems, Messr. Imoni Mac Amarere, John Iwarue and Johnson Onime.
According to the statement signed by the company secretary, Miji Jonah, the retirement is effective October 31, 2024.
Speaking on the changes, Dokpesi Jr said, “We are a publicly listed company and the only publicly listed media company on the stock exchange, and that means we are also bound by Securities and Exchange Commission rules, and the code of corporate governance is mandatory for all publicly listed companies. That means that our responsibility to our shareholders transcends personal choices and opinions.
“It is true that when you look at the tenures of the existing members of management, many of them have started as part of the management since the inception of the organisation.
We have persons who are leaving the organisation after 27 years, after 22 years; most of this time they have spent in executive management positions, and yet the code of corporate governance and our internal documents state that we should only do a maximum of two terms of five years each. So, their retirement is, in fact, long overdue. It’s a decision that should have been made five to six years ago.”
He pointed out that, as of the time, the founder, Raymond Dokpesi, was still alive and dealing with political pressure from the government; hence, the timing wasn’t right to make such major changes.
He said: “The time is opportune and right as well for us to review where we want to go from here. For me and the majority of the members of our board, the decision comes down to simply determining whether we want to continue on our existing trajectory or we want to do something different.
“If we are looking at doing something differently, it means that we have to subject ourselves to abide by the terms and conditions of extant laws and regulations, to give the investing public confidence in our organisation and the administration and to be able to attract the kind of funds that we need to grow and expand beyond our existing programmes.”
“We have to find the right kinds of opportunities that exist for raising capital either through equity or debt. But these are considerations that really gear us forward after we have done the basic restructuring of the organisation and by that, I mean compliance with the best practices of corporate governance and identifying talent with a track record of success to give us the confidence that they can come in and fit in with our new strategy and give us the best shot at success.”
He disclosed that the changes made would provide opportunities for those within and outside the organisation.
Meanwhile, the board of the company has expressed gratitude to the retiring management staff for their service.
