Newswatch sacks Ray Ekpu, others from board

NEWSWATCH Communications Limited has announced the sack of Messrs Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed and Soji Akinrinade from its board of directors.Their sack is sequel to the share purchase agreement signed by them, which required them to have 'appropriate shares' to be on the board of the company.Section 7.0 of the said agreement stated that: 'Both parties agree that the founding members of the company, when retiring, could take up appointments as consulting editors, up to a period of two years, or membership of the board, where appropriate.'The company, currently restructuring for a turn-around, said the collective shares of Mr Ekpu and the three others put together is 6.1 per cent of the company's total shares, which does not meet the requirement of Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and, therefore, not appropriate for them to occupy a four-member board seat.Reacting to the news of their removal from the board, the Executive Chairman and publisher of Newswatch, Dr Jimoh Ibrahim, said since Mr Ekpu and others signed the agreement, they are 'knowledgeable and old enough to know the implication of the documents they signed and, as such, cannot eat their cake and have it.'Ibrahim added that by law, only a minimum of 10 per cent shareholders can legally demand for a board seat in any company. He advised Ekpu and others to approach the company to buy more of the unalloted shares, in order to retain board seats.'Having voluntarily retired from the company, and having their benefits paid,' he stated 'they can only attend the annual general meeting with other shareholders whenever it is called.
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