Secret Reporters No place to hide
Information reaching 247ureports.com through competent sources knowledgeable of the goings-on within the NIMC [National Identity Management Commission] reveal unholy practices with the Commission against the Staff of the Commission and against the Federal Government. It was learnt the management team had devised a water tight scheme to siphon the monies earmarked for the management of NIMC.
Documentary evidence indicates 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”.
According to our source, “this is the greatest of crimes the commission would be committing against its staff. A government institution that has staff strength of over 4000 would deduct pensions at source but fail to remit same to PFA for 4-5 solid years! When they learnt of the last planned protest at the ASCSN office, they started remitting over a weekend. Remittances 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. The question is; where has this monies housed for these years and the interests accruable to them as regulated by the pensions Act?”
Available information indicates the same story with the National Housing Fund. Deductions are made monthly for 5 years, none has been remitted. The monies remain lodge at an unknown location.
In terms of salary cuts and allowances, the management team exhibits the same callous criminality. In the words of our source, “the worst of it is that they have removed hazard allowances, yet staff would, and are expected to work from 8am to 5pm daily. Fix eyes on unprotected computer screens and absolve emissions from them. In discharge of their duties, staff would come in contact with people both healthy and unhealthy. An average staff is exposed to contagious diseases on daily basis. Yet, management, deem it fit to remove hazard allowances – the least of sundry allowances entitled by staff. NIMC management has sat on and refused to pay her staff 28 days allowances since 2013! No NIMC staff can tell you any amount of money he/she is expecting as salary at the end of a month due to these financial/salary irregularities perpetrated by management. A level 8 officer in the commission has once earned 115k, 86k, 76k and 56k in January 2018 despite having just been promoted in December, 2017! Yes, in NIMC, a recently promoted staff was demoted in earnings.
That’s just the height of it! The effrontery is such that staff was asked and made to forfeit their promotions arrears in their promotion letters! Where does all these monies go to? These arrears, were they not budgeted for, and monies collected for them from the FG?”
It was gathered that the NIMC management team managed to induce fear into its staff through introduction of policy documents and oaths of secrecy forms which her staff are compelled to sign. This enables the management team to continue plundering the welfare of staff undeterred.
On the subject of funding of station offices, the management team appear to have washed their hands completely away from releasing allocated funds budgeted for the management of the various station offices across the country. As a result, NIMC enrolment centers nationwide are no longer funded by management despite budgeted allocations.
The management team opted to openly instruct the station offices to solicit funds on their own to run the offices. The official memos encouraged staff to seek for sponsorships and gratifications from citizens in order to perform official government duties for the nation. Our source lamented that “staffs have been reduced to beggars at places of work, hoping solely on the goodwill of Nigerians in order to perform official duties. A visit to enrolment centers across the country confirms that enrolment is no longer free. Staff would hide under the excuse of non-provision of working tools/materials and funds by management to engage in all sorts of extortions in discharge of duties”.
The NIMC management team have also exhibited ungodly nepotism in the area of promotions and placements. 247ureports.com gathered that the recently concluded promotions/placement was reported to be a scam. This exercise was without a yardstick. It was based on ‘who knows who’. A level 8 officer was reported to have been promotions to level 10, over mates who joined the commission on same date and with same qualifications. The same exercise saw new staffs promoted above old staff with same qualification. Some of the new staff were promoted and issued promotion letters before their confirmation.
Interestingly, after the January, 2018 demoralizing experience from salary payment debacle, NIMC decided to act. They decided to ask questions. Their Union, the ASCSN and their representative is reported to have lost his voice. Their chapter union is believed to have been pocketed by management of NIMC. For this reason, the staff members have requested for the vacation from office of the Union representative.
The present occupants of the Union office are caretaker exco led by ‘Kehinde’ by virtue of ASCSN constitution. But according to the provisions of the said constitution, a caretaker committee must not stay beyond 3 months. The present caretaker led by Kenny has stayed over 3 years in office. This was the reason by the staff members took their last protest to the office of the mother body of the ASCSN demanding for elections to be conducted in its NIMC chapter.
Responding to the protest, the management decided to victimize the leader of the protest. The leader and/or organizer of the protest was served a query from the NIMC management threatening his sack.
Source: 247ureports
