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All operations at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) may go down by December 31 as workers of the government agency have threatened to down tools at the expiration of their 21-day ultimatum to the federal government over complaint of poor welfare.
Expressing disappointment with the management of the NIMC, the workers’ union at the commission want payment of outstanding arrears and implementation of the para-military salary structure. The National Salaries and Wages Commission classifies NIMC as a para-military body.
Among other issues in a letter made public in Abuja this week, the workers complained over the appalling state of the commission’s enrolment centres nationwide. They want “urgent attention” taken to resolve the issues.
The letter was signed by the Secretary-General of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Isaac Ojemhenke, dated November 8, 2019 and addressed to the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Minister of Labour and Employment, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Director General of the State Security Service, Inspector General of Police and NIMC management.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the chairman of the NIMC branch of ASCSN, Lucky Asekokhai, NIMC’s management has failed to respond to the workers’ the demand. “The workers are not happy. A decision will be taken by the union soon. Workers will not accept to continue working under deplorable conditions of service.
“We have been on this issue for a long time, but management has not been sincere with us. We issued an ultimatum which has elapsed. There is no reason for people that work in a critical agency that keeps data of the identities of Nigerians to work in a deplorable condition.
“We heard of a new salary structure and the management confirmed working on it, but we are yet to see the salary.
“Again, the 28-day relocation allowance given to people on transfer, or those that are newly employed, has yet to be paid since 2013.
“After the ultimatum, we were invited by the national assembly, the SGF, police and head of the trade dispute department at the ministry of labour and employment. We were told to give the government some time. We expected date but they did not give us.
“We have decided to give government till December 31, 2019, for further discussion, but if nothing positive comes up, nobody should blame us for any action taken. We will not give any further notice before we shut down the commission.”
But NIMC claimed most of the thorny issues are beyond it. The commission operates under the ambit of the presidency.
“There are issues raised, but 99 per cent of them were outside the purview of the commission’s management because they were directed at the government,” said NIMC’s general manager, operations, Abdulhamid Umar.
“But, because we were delegated by the government to manage the commission for the public, we cannot run away from the impact of the issues raised. They were germane and still germane, but no longer on the front burner.
“On the allowances, the government has directed us to collate them. If you go to the Accountant General’s Office, you will see our requisition there. Discussions took place at the highest level. Those matters have been tabled before the government,” added Umar to NAN.
