Workers of the National Identity Management Commission
(NIMC) on Tuesday raised the alarm over plans by the company’s management to
disengage more than 4,029 junior staff members “for redundancy’’.

Some of the affected workers, said that the plan by the
organisation to sack them without full benefits violated civil service rules.

They claimed that the management had gone to the Federal
Ministry of Labour and Productivity to declare them redundant.

Some of the employees, who pleaded anonymity for fear of
being victimised by the management, said they were engaged by the defunct
Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs now Federal Ministry of Interior in 2002
and 2003.

They said their appointments were transferred to NIMC in
November, 2009 following which new appointment letters were issued to them by
the organisation.

The employees, who refered to themselves as concerned staff
members of the NIMC, said that majority of the junior workers had been
stagnated for 10 years without promotion.

“Our colleagues who were retained in the ministry or had the
opportunity to be posted to other ministries are now on GL 07 and GL 08 while
we are still on GL 04 and GL 05.

“Majority of us have additional qualifications as against
management’s claims that we have not improved ourselves,’’ they said.

They alleged that the management had continued to employ
unqualified people on higher grade levels without addressing the issues of
promotion and payment of entailments of existing staff.

“The management has evolved a policy that it will not work
with staff members that do not have the minimum qualification of a HND or BSc.
while most of us are currently in school to upgrade ourselves.

“Moreover, data capturing as it applies to identity
registration is more practical than paper qualification and majority of us
participated in the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation’s data
capturing exercise for civil servants.

“We took part in the exercise after being trained by CHAMS,
a major partner in the present NIMC project,’’ they said.

The group wondered why the commission planned to disengage
4,029 workers who “represents 98 per cent of the workforce of the commission
nationwide’’ and to employ and train new staff for the NIMC enrolment exercise.

The workers said the management had concluded plans to sack
the workers and pay only three months’ salaries without benefits.

According to them, the affected staff members earn between
N20,000 and N30,000.

They said that three management staff of the commission had
earlier resigned from the commission in protest over the planned “wrongful sack
of employees’’.

When contacted, Mr Anthony Okwudiafor, the acting Director,
Corporate Communications, declined to comment on the issue.

NAN reports that most of the protesting staff members are
school certificate holders while others have diplomas. Some were said to be
undergoing courses in higher institutions with the NIMC’s approval.