Transcorp Hilton Staff Loses Job For Supporting Buhari

8 years ago

Transcorp Hilton Staff Loses Job For Supporting Buhari

A staff of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Mohammed Khalid Yakubu, who has been in the services of the hotel for ten years now, has lost his job for openly showing his support for the President-elect, Gen. Mohammed Buhari.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP in Abuja on Wednesday, Yakubu alleged that his immediate boss, the head of housekeeping department, Mr. Paul Agiopu conspired with the general manager, Mr Etienne Gailliez, a national of Holland, to terminate his ten-year employment with Transcorp Hilton Hotel on February 10, 2015.

The sacked staff said on that fateful day, Agiopu and Gailliez told him that Transcorp Hilton belonged to members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and not the All Progressives Congress (APC), and as such, he should go and meet Buhari and APC to give a job.

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“On 10th of February, 2015, I was at Transcorp Hilton where I had worked for ten years until now. On that day, I went up to my office, Housekeeping department, on the fourth floor.

When I knocked on the door, it was the general manager, Mr Etienne Gailliez who opened the door; behind him was my boss, Mr Paul Agiopu who surprisingly called me by my name Khalid, instead of the usual APC because of my support for Buhari, which we usually joked about.

“I asked him why he called me by Khalid instead of the usual APC. It was at that point that the general manager, Mr Etienne Gailliez told me point blank that Transcorp Hilton belonged to the PDP and not the APC, and that I should go and meet Buhari and APC to give me job. And within 10 minutes, while I was still taking the conversation as a joke, the director of Human Resources, Omorinsola Sofola was ready with my letter of termination. This is an injustice,” Yakubu cried.

He further called on the National Human Rights Commission, the APC and other relevant agencies to come to his aid, as his source of livelihood has been wrongfully taken away from him.

“The letter of termination which was signed by Omorinsola Sofola reads, “We regret to inform you that your services with the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja are no longer required, effective today, 10th February 2015.

“By copy of this letter, and upon successful clearance from respective departments concerned, the Director of Finance is to pay you your one month basic salary in lieu of notice.

“We wish you all the best in your future endeavours.”

Reacting to the allegation, the communication/public relations officer of the hotel, Mr Shola Adeyemo said the affected staff was relieved of his job based on his unethical conduct, adding that the issue had no political undertone.

“We are an international hospitality organisation committed to standard practices.

we are not partisan and thus, expect our employees to conduct themselves with decorum towards customers. And if any staff member falls short of these standards, there are, of course, penalties. Staff members are free to associate and join political parties of their choice, but they should not allow that affect their job. And in the case of Yakubu, he was not dismissed, his services are just required anymore,” Mr Adeyemo added.