IDS announces departure of its CEO

Kota Kinabalu: The Institute for Development Studies (IDS) Sabah officially announced the departure of its CEO, Johan Ariffin Samad (pic).

IDS chairman Simon Sipaun said the board of directors had decided not to confirm Johan’s appointment upon expiry of his six months’ probation period, which ended on May 31.

“Until a suitable replacement is found, the deputy CEO of IDS, Anthony Kiob, will take charge of the day-to-day activities with immediate effect,” he said.

Sipaun stated that a letter had been sent to Chief Minister Shafie Apdal, dated June 3, informing him of the IDS board of directors’ decision.

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Similarly, another letter, dated June 3, was sent to Johan to inform him of the board’s decision.

“On behalf of IDS, we would like to extend our gratitude to Datuk Johan and wish him well in his future endeavours.

“The board has full confidence that IDS has capable and experienced manpower and will proceed with a seamless transition to undertake all projects and research work for the state government.

“The institute has no urgency to hire a new CEO at this moment in time,” said Sipaun.

The announcement was unexpected since Shafie had said he would make his decision on the issue after meeting Sipaun, although the chief minister did not say when the meeting would take place.

Johan, who met Shafie on June 3, had claimed he was told by Shafie to stay put as CEO.

However, the latest development shows the decision did not depend on the chief minister as he had hoped but with the board of directors of IDS, who voted 6-5 against him.

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In another development, Sipaun also announced that former IDS CEO Hasnol Ayub has resigned as a director of IDS with effect from June 12.

A group of directors who were unhappy with the decision accused Sipaun of siding with Hasnol, who is the nephew of former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman.

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