Unholy Extortion At NIMC As DG Begins Victimization Of Staff
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Loading ...The fight against corruption under the administration of President Mohammadu Buhari may have scored a few successes in hurting after corrupt officials and political office holders of the previous administration but the corrupt excesses within the Parastatals and Agencies appear to go unchecked and unhindered. Information available to 247ureports.com obtained through competent source reveal that a rustic attitude of corruption and an unmitigated disregard to rule or law and due process has overridden the offices of the top bosses at the National Identity Management Commission [NIMC].
Following the report by 247ureports.com on the corrupt excesses of the NIMC titled Exposing Heartless Stealing And Extortion At The NIMC where it revealed the manner the top bosses at the NIMC stole and extorted monies from the Commission and from the staff under the guise of pension contribution and/or deductions, unnamed deductions, nonpayment of salaries, etc., the top boss launched a victimization campaign against NIMC staff.
Documentary evidence indicate the top bosses at the NIMC reached into the Pension scheme of the Staff and converted the monies to private monies. The management of the NIMC deducted pension monies from their staff of over 4000 for up to 5 years without remittance. This resulted in a protest at the ASCSN. The protest caused the management to begin remittances. “They were done half hazard such that staff employed at same time received different amounts. Many have not received as at date and those that did, complain of under payments”. Click here to read complete report.
Angered by the report of 247ureports.com, the top bosses opted for retributive measures against staff members they believed were responsible for the leaked information on the corrupt activities. They issued hotly worded letters of query to selected staff members who had showed displeasure with the goings on within the Commission. The letters of query threatened sack should they continue protesting the actions of the NIMC.
Through the NIMC effort to mask their grouse excesses, the Director General [DG] of the Commission stretched his corrupt tentacles into the Labor Union overseeing the workers welfare to subvert the activities of the leader of the labor Union – [ASCSN: Association of Senior Civil Servant of Nigeria]. The DG, Engr. Aliyu Azeez began using the Union to suffocate the efforts of the staffs to protest the illegal deductions from their salaries.
As a caveat, it is necessary a background of the inhuman treatment meted against the workers at National Identity Management Commission through the cover of an equally compromised Union leader, be highlighted.
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The compromised leader of the labor Union, present NIMC Interim Union Chairman was selected in 2014 owing to circumstances surrounding the DNCR Staff then (Staff of NIMC inherited from the defunct department under the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs).
The former Director General Barrister Chris Onyemanam upon assuming office early 2008 in NIMC called for Staff Verification to ascertain the Staff strength of the Organization. In the process, he discovered significant discrepancies with the Staff nominal roll.
In addition, he also called for certificate verification and promotion verification. During the verification exercise, he discovered majority of the Staff were Junior Staff – with many having Fake Promotions and Falsified documents. By 2012, the DG affected the retrenchment of the Junior Staff found without the relevant qualifications. Then in 2013, the DG took on the matter of staff with falsified records and Fake Promotion.
Incidentally, the present Interim Union Chairman was among the staff with falsified records and Fake Promotion. He was to be retrenched, possibly. But when the issue was raised by the Management, the union chairman sought refuge with the Union. The Union, ASCSN, reacted to the Court to stop the process to protect the Union leader.
This was while other Staffs were sacked for the same offence.
Following nearly three years of litigation, the Court ruled against the Union. The court ruled that NIMC can do whatever they wish to her employee as long as some Staff had been sacked for the same reason. The Interim Union Chairman in cohorts with the Union filed an appeal. Shortly after filing the appeal, the DG was removed and replaced by President Buhari’s appointee.
When the present DG Engr. Aliyu Azeez assumed office in November 2015, the Interim Union Chairman found a cover. The DG was said to have no interest in continuing the verification exercise. According to our sources, he “found a partner in the Union leader”. Since then, “it has not being well with entire Staff of the Commission in terms of Welfare”.
According to the source, “In March of 2017 our monthly salary was reduced by N1, 000 each. We informed the Interim Union Chairman on the issue but all to avail. In August of 2017 the management did Promotion/Proper Placement for Staff, the program was greeted with series of complaints ranging from fraudulent double promotion and nepotism. The Favored ones by the management got promoted while the others did not get at all. We called on the Interim Union Chairman’s attention to the issue but all to avail. A month later, the management sent an email link to the aggrieved Staff to send in their complaints. Most of us the OLD STAFF (The Inherited Staff from DNCR) did. From August 2017 to January 2018, nothing was done on the issue and all the complaints from the aggrieved Staff were ignored until January 2018 monthly salary that broke the camel’s back. Staff were surprised to see their January 2018 salary reduced by 40% without any information from the Management or the Interim Union Executive. The staff resolved to seek for solutions themselves”.
The NIMC staff then took to action. They opened a complaint register across the various offices and locations of NIMC. “This led us to purchase a hard cover note book and we tagged it “VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE REGISTER” against the ASCSN Interim led Exco in NIMC Unit. Other State like Taraba, Osun Ebonyi and many more also have the same Vote of No Confidence Register in their various States.”
The staff then turned to getting their voice out to appropriate quarters for assistance. They wrote a series unanswered save our soul [SOS] letter to the mother Union. As the repeated letters to the mother Union failed to yield any response, the staff opted for protest at the Union Secretariat. Interesting, as the staff lined up for the protest at the Union Secretariat, the unexplained deductions from the salaries of the staffs over 5 years – were paid back instantaneously as the staff protested at the Secretariat. The staff were getting alerts at the protest grounds.
“Series of letters were written to the mother body of the Union (Association Of Senior Civil Servant Of Nigeria) but all to no avail. After waiting for their responses, the entire Staff decided to do the follow up of all the letters submitted to the Union Council Secretariat. We embarked on a peaceful protest.
During the peaceful protest, the pension funds of over 4 – 5 years started dropping in Staff Individuals Pensions Account. The Pension payment was done within the period of the peaceful protest.”
“The claim pension is from the source, while did all the PFAs paid the pension funds within 48 hours? This question the Management has not provided answer to. Eg In my pay slip they deducted over N4, 000 and my PFA Statement of Accounts shows less than N1, 800”
As expected, the DG and management staff of NIMC did not accept the protest in good faith. They were angered and felt embarrassed. They turned to retributive victimization as a weapon. According to our source, “queries started flying to Staff who participated in the peaceful protest. We were surprised about how the management got the full list of some of the Staff that participated in the peaceful protest because we did not take attendance on the day of protest”.
It was gathered that the Union leader had submitted the list of aggrieve persons who had previously approached him about their grievances. He betrayed confidentiality. “The names we wrote in a sheet of paper during our meeting with the Union Council Secretariat was sent to the management for victimization. With the list the management issued us queries. How can we trust such Union to defend us?”
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