Joint unions within the Federal Road Maintenance Agency have protested over the Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s statement designating certain agency board members as executive board members.
The Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees and the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria communicated their stance to Akpabio on Friday through a letter that was provided to reporters in Abuja.
It was notes that although Akpabio announced the formation of a new FERMA board on Wednesday, he referred to some of the members as executive board members rather than the typical board members.
The letter, co-signed by Abdulmumin Idris, chairman of AUPCTRE, and Paul Onimisi, chairman of ASCSN, described the senate president’s declaration as disheartening and demoralizing to the agency’s employees.
The FERMA Act is broken by the selection of some members as executive board members who would eventually take over departmental management, which also hinders agency employees’ ability to advance in their careers.
“The appointment of certain individuals as executive board members is against the provisions of Section 2(2) of the FERMA Act as amended and career advancement within government agencies,” the unions stated.
The plan is for executive board members to replace career officers in charge of departments, which is counterproductive and demoralizing for career officers.
With all due respect, distinguished Senate President, we implore you to verify that the board members were appointed in compliance with the legislation that established the board.
“Anything less would set off a series of events that will upend the agency’s structure, undermine its mission, and demoralize the staff.”
The executives of the unions claimed that the agency would be destroyed if some board members were given executive positions as department heads because employees would not support them.
The union leaders emphasized that the formation of a board within a board was the specific negative outcome of the device that made some board members executive board members.
They continued by saying that doing so would cause the agency to act contrary to its mandate.
“The organization and its employees are peacefully pursuing the fulfillment of their purpose as part of their national duty.
The unions wrote to President Bola Tinubu, pointing out the issue, saying, “An urgent clarion call is hereby made for the immediate reversal of this illegality to forestall looming anarchy this contraption may cause.”
