The Chairman of the Board of Directors of DAAR Communications Plc, Raymond Dokpesi Jr, has described his recent retirement from the company’s management team as long overdue.
This was disclosed by Dokpesi while commenting on the changes, according to The Punch.
The announcement of these changes came through a statement sent to the Nigerian Exchange Limited, where DAAR Communications revealed the retirement of 10 members from its executive management team. The retirees include notable figures such as Tony Akiotu, Dr. Oluwatosin Dokpesi, Dr. Ambrose Somide, Anthony Uyah, Ms. Paulyn Ugbodagha, Mrs. Mary Lawrence-Dokpesi, Ms. Faith Ikems, Messrs. 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.
This significant restructuring marks a new chapter for DAAR Communications Plc as it undergoes leadership 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 noted 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.
“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,” he stated.
He added, “Certainly, the financials of the organisation show that shareholder capital has been eroded for a number of years now. We have serious liquidity issues, which have also been flagged and raised in past numbers of annual reports. So, we cannot sweep these issues under the carpet. We have to be able to proactively address them. We may have to look at what kind of solutions are available to us as an entity listed on NGX.
“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 said that both people inside and outside the organization would have opportunities as a result of the reforms.
However, the board of the company has expressed gratitude to the retiring management staff for their service.
“The company is working on a major restructuring of its leadership and once this is concluded, the Exchange, other regulatory authorities, shareholders and the general public will be notified of changes accordingly,” the company said.
DAAR Communications plc is an independent privately owned broadcasting organization in Nigeria. It was established on 31 August 1998, by Raymond Dokpesi.
On 23 April 2007, it was converted into a public liability company.
