By Ekemini SIMON
THE Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council, has called on the state government not to sweep allegations of corruption and crisis bedevilling Peacock Paints Limited under the carpet.
The demand by the NUJ is contained in a communiqué jointly signed by the union’s excos: Amos Etuk, Dominic Akpan and Akan Esinwang. The communiqué was issued at the end of the union’s congress held on Friday, April 30, 2021.
The call comes on the heels of the John D. and Catherine T. MacAuthor Foundation and The ICIR-supported investigative report carried out by The Mail Newspaper where deep-seated corruption and misappropriation of state government’s intervention fund in Peacock Paints Limited by the management was exposed.
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The NUJ, in their deliberations on issues affecting the state tagged, ‘State of the State,’ requested the state government to look into the immediate and remote causes of the company’s collapse, especially as huge reactivation fund was committed few years ago.
While noting that it was worrisome for a company reactivated less than six years ago to collapse, leading to non-payment of staff for 16 months, the NUJ said the state government had to urgently look into the issues affecting the company so as to save it.
Photo Credit: 9jaecho.com
“Congress urge the state government to look into the issues in Peacock Paints Company Ltd., which is at a comatose stage now with non – payment of staff salaries for many months, in spite of the huge capital government committed into the revitalization of the company few years ago,” the NUJ noted in their communiqué.
It could be recalled that the state legislature has said that informal investigation has commenced on the issues affecting Peacock Paints Limited with assurance that full probe will begin after the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) call off its strike action.
However, the state executive has kept mum over the issues affecting the company. There has been no official statement or reaction from the executive.
