Renowned labour unionist, Chief Frank Kokori, has claimed he was appointed as the Chairman of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) by vice-president Yemi Osinbajo, when he was acting President in October 2017.
He, however, says when President Muhammadu Buhari returned from his medical leave in the UK, the powerful cabal in the Presidency reversed the appointment.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, later installed his ally, Austin Enajemo-Isire, as the chairman after refusing to inaugurate Kokori for nearly two years.
Speaking with The PUNCH in a recent interview, Kokori, alleged people took advantage of Buhari’s old age to exploit the system.
He said, “Buhari has a limitation and that is age. I think that is one of his problems and those people around him—those we call the Presidency, the cabal or the mafia—are exploiting it. They do anything on his behalf and they would write ‘The Presidency says so.’
“They dispel positions, like when I was made the chairman of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund by the then acting president, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, when Buhari went abroad. When he came back, they felt that Kokori would be too strong in that position because that is where the workers’ pensions are warehoused and it’s a goldmine for corrupt people.
“In fact, at the last moment, they sold the position to their stooges and you know that struggle. The entirety of Nigerian workers and even the media were backing me, but (the late Chief of Staff) Abba Kyari was in charge. They took the job from me, even though Buhari told me on June 12 that year that ‘you will resume at the end of the week.’”
