by Mercy Madu
The face-off between the staff and management of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) further deteriorated yesterday in Abuja as the staff of the commission protested the redeployment of a contract staff to head the department of internal control, accusing the director general, Ms Arunma Oteh of highhandedness and tyranny.
The staff of SEC accused the management of the Commission of insincerity in the way it redeployed staff of the commission early this month and sought to know the reason for the deployment of security operatives to the commission.
The workers staged the protest within the premises of the commission yesterday, chanting “Oteh must go!!!” with some of their placards reading “no to sole administrator-ship,” and “no to tyranny and highhandedness.” The protesting workers gave the director General of the commission Ms Arunma Oteh a two weeks ultimatum to address their demands or face their wrath.
In a letter to management of SEC, the staff union had stated that “Mr Omotayo who is one of the unregularized staff who once served as a technical adviser to the DG was redeployed to head the Internal Control Department. This in our opinion creates a morale issue as Mr Omotayo by virtue of his former position would not constitute a sufficient check to executive or administrative excesses. His redeployment should therefore be checked.”
The workers letter noted that “it is on record that the Board extract of 56th Board meeting directed that if by 31st July, 2012 the contract staff of the commission was not regularized, their appointment should be terminated. This directive has not been complied with, rather a counter directive was given by the DG to the finance and account department to pay up their remuneration up to August 2012 without any directive suppressing the earlier directive of the board.”
Addressing journalists, the chairman of the union, Mr. Muhammed Salihu said that contract staff had been deployed by the DG to head the Internal Audit Department and SEC Training School, among others.
“We have 21 contract staff; all of them placed in certain positions that are unbearable and against public service policy. It is unheard of that you make such a person a senior manager. You have somebody who graduated in 1994 and you make him a deputy director, we have 24 of them,” Salihu said.
He said the union had written to Oteh to have a meeting with her adding that the DG issued a query instead of calling for a meeting.
Salihu added that the union would give the management two weeks to work things out to ensure peace and harmony in the commission.
He lamented that it was unfortunate that the DG had decided to adopt sole administration pattern to administer the commission.
Salihu urged government to intervene in the situation to help develop the capital market in the country.’
