Union Members Protest Sack

The Junior Staff Union (JSU) of the National Identity Card
Management Commission (NIMC) nationwide have embarked on protest over the
planned downsizing of the Commission Workforce.

Spokesperson of the Union, Comrade Charity Abidoye told
newsmen that the Commission’s
Director-General, Mr Chris Onyemanam planned to sack over 4,029 junior
staff of the commission.

Comrade Abidoye said the junior staff were formally employed
by the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs before their deployment to the
Department of Civil Registration.

She said in 2007 when the NIMC took over the department of
Civil Registration, the Director General promised to absorb the affected staff
he is now planning to sack.

The spokesperson said staff of the commission had been
stagnant for the past nine years without promotion before the planned sack
letters were issued to the junior staff members.

She said “the Director General gave us redundancy letter,
saying  we were redundant and that the
commission does not need our service again.”

She said that the Commission’s Director-General stated that
the affected staff have no certificates to qualify them to work  for the commission.

When The Tide visited the Port Harcourt Office of the
Commission, beside INEC Office Aba Road, a staff who pleaded anonymity said the
Commission’s Director-General  needed to
follow proper procedure for reorganising the NIMC.

The staff said, the Commission has been paralysed since the
planned sack of the junior staff, stressing that the Presidency and the
National Assembly should intervene to save the future of over 4,029 staff of
NIMC from being thrown into the labour market.

He said “the Junior Staff Union of NIMC was appealing to the
Presidency, National Assembly and well meaning Nigerians to call the NIMC’s
Director General, Mr Chris Onyemanam to order and rescind  the decision of sacking the workers.

However, the National Identity Card Management Commission
was established to handle Civil registration of Nigerians for National Identity
Cards.

Philip Okparaji