The National Identity Management Commission has embarked on a strike action African News Today has gathered.
This was contained in a notice of strike signed by the President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, NIMC branch, Lucky Michael, and its Secretary, Odia Victor.
The notice partly read, “Consequent upon the just concluded congress of the above-mentioned association that took place on January 6, 2020, the unit executive directs all members of grade level 12 and below in the head office and state offices to report to their respective duty posts tomorrow January 7, 2020 and do nothing.
“All members at the local government offices and special centres are advised to stay away from their various centres as a task force and implementation committees would be on parade to ensure total compliance to the directive.”
The strike is said to have been informed by the exposure of staff of the commission to COVID-19 threat, lack of personal protective equipment, irregularities in the promotion and poor funding.
The statement issued at the conclusion of the congress meeting of the ACCSN, NIMC branch went on to add that, “Staff members were infected with COVID-19 and adequate measures have not been taken to curtail the spread. The meeting resolved that the safety of staff should be prioritised. Furthermore, the office environment should be fumigated immediately.
“The congress agreed that the NIMC staff salary structure approved by the Federal Government vide Presidential assent be implemented in the personnel appropriation of the 2021 annual budget effective January 2021.
“That the lopsided and irregular promotion done in 2017 and 2020 be reviewed, regularised and gazetted in accordance with public service rules.”
Recall that the Nigerian Communications Commission had in December ordered telecoms service providers to block all SIM cards of subscribers not linked with their National Identity Numbers, NIN, by the end of January.
The strike has left hundreds of Nigerians stranded outside NIMC offices across the country.