- By Halimah Olamide
We hereby advise you that your services are no longer required and accordingly your employment with WPG Ltd is hereby terminated
The former managing director and CEO of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKED), Tinuade Sanda, was sacked by both Eko Disco and West Power and Gas (WPG) Limited for falsely claiming degrees from Edinburgh and Harvard universities,
In March 2022, Sandra was appointed the managing director of Eko Disco.
However, she has was dismissed in April 2024 following an internal investigation at the company.
On March 25, Dere Otubu, chairman of the board of directors at Eko Disco, announced the recall of Sanda based on a directive from the Nigerian Electricity Distribution Commission (NERC).
She was recalled to the parent company alongside other WPG staff.
Backing the decision of the board of directors at EKEDC, West Power and Gas (WPG), the parent company of Eko Disco, announced that it had also fired Sanda.
“We hereby advise you that your services are no longer required and accordingly your employment with WPG Ltd is hereby terminated effective April 17, 2024, in accordance with clause 10.2 of the Contract.
“WPG Ltd is obligated to pay you three months salary in lieu of notice and hereby advise you that the due amounts have been credited to your account,” the company said in a letter to Sanda.
According to her LinkedIn page, the embattled MD had initially claimed that she holds a Bachelor’s degree in applied science (BASc) from Harvard Business School and an MBA in Strategic Planning from the University of Edinburgh.
She also claims to have earned a PhD in financial management and entrepreneurship from the University Management Science and Technology, Benin Republic in December 2020 and therefore presented herself as Dr. Tinuade Sanda.
A cursory look at the authenticity of the PhD revealed that the institution’s website domain had expired and the university had been taken offline. What is left online of the said university is an Instagram account where it markets itself to potential students, especially Nigerians.
The university offers a B.Sc in three years, as against the standard four years in Nigeria, and interestingly, does not require UTME results for admissions.
Before the university’s website was taken down, it had claimed the ‘Authorization No: 2014-049MESS/CAB/DC/SCM/DPP/DGES/DEPES/SA’ in the Republic of Benin and ‘recognized by Ministry of higher Education of Nigeria.
Unfortunately, there is no record of Nigeria’s Ministry of Education approving such a university. Also, the list of accredited universities on the NUC website does not include ICON University.
Similarly, concerning her degree from Harvard Business School, the office of the registrar at Harvard Business School said Sanda did not bag a degree from the highly-rated institution.
However, HBS confirmed that she attended a three-day executive course nine years ago.
The business school added that she undertook the three-day programme in Strategic Financial Analysis for Business Evaluation from March 29 to April 1, 2015, receiving a Certificate of Attendance.
“Please note that HBS Executive Education only offers non-degree programs.
Certificates of attendance are awarded to participants upon completion of the program and do not grant degrees or alumni status for the program mentioned above,” HBS said.
Since the sack by Eko Disco, Sanda’s LinkedIn page has been edited, removing some of the previously listed educational qualifications.
For instance, Harvard Business School has been changed to Harvard Business School Executive Education and University of Edinburgh has been changed to Heriot-Watt University.