February 21, (THEWILL) – When a former Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, approved the appointment of Siju Alabi as General Manager of Lagos Television, many were excited that a change in leadership would translate to a new phase for the television station. However, four days after her appointment, the workers are already praying that the incumbent Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu will not re-appoint Alabi to the position.
THEWILL gathered that as Alabi’s four-year tenure approaches its end, she is already lobbying for a re-appointment. Although she has an intimidating resume as an ace broadcaster, elocution coach and trainer with international broadcasting experience in reputable broadcast stations abroad, the few years she has spent at LTV did not reflect in the status and image of the TV station. The station has been living in its past glory as a reputable government-owned broadcast medium in Lagos State.
According to sources, some allegations leveled against the LTV GM have put her competence to question. It is alleged that she has no administrative skills despite her rating as an excellent and seasoned broadcaster. It is also alleged that under her watch the workers’ pensions have not been remitted to the appropriate pension fund administrators since 2020, contracts and procurements were allegedly awarded to incompetent contractors without following due process, she stalled the career progression of some workers in the station and some staff were allegedly transferred to departments where they were rendered redundant.
Alabi was alleged to have reversed the cashless policy of the TV station; collecting cash directly for pay-in programmes and failing to pay the salaries of the Blue Roof contract staff in the last nine months. Some of the structures of the over 40-year-old TV station have also been allegedly left unattended to.
A few months ago, when some members of the House of Representative led by Okanlawon Sanni paid a visit to the TV station, they also expressed their dissatisfaction with the state of the buildings. Sanni urged Alabi to scale up efforts by going the extra mile to present the station’s challenges through the Commissioner of Information to Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu, for immediate action in order to boost the performance of the broadcast station.
The Lagos State Government at a point also shunned the station and chose to patronise MITV for some of its E-learning educational programmes. It shows how drastically the rating of the TV station has dropped. It is alleged that Alabi’s administration has fallen short of the standards set by her predecessors, Jimi Odumosu, Lekan Ogunbanwo and Funke Moore, in terms of content and staff welfare.
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