Transition Crisis Rocks FIRS as workers leadership rise against Fowler’s man
A few hours after the exit of Mr. Tunde Fowler as the Chairman of the Board of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), crisis has erupted in the organization as the leadership of the Joint Union Council of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has risen against Fowler’s decision to handover to his Special Assistant and kinsman, rather than to the most senior Director as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
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It would be recalled that, in view of the expiration of the tenure of Mr. Tunde Fowler as the Chairman of FIRS, the president had nominated Mami Adamu as the new Chairman of the Service and while he awaits Mami’s confirmation by the Senate, Buhari had directed that Fowler should handover to the most senior Director.
Daily Times was however informed that rather than comply with the president’s directives, Fowler on Monday, December, 2019, handed the management of the Service to his Special Assistant Mr. Abiodun Aina as the acting chairman, a development that drew the anger of the workers of the Service and their leaders.
Daily Times is with a copy of a communiqué issued by the leadership of ASCSN and addressed to the Acting Chairman, FIRS, and copied to the office of the Director HCMD protesting the handover to Mr. Abiodun Aina as well as threatening breakdown of law and order should he fail to vacate office within days.
The communiqué, signed by 15 member of ASCSN leadership including Barrister Okere Samson (Chairman), Comrade Idris Hassan Abdulrahaman (Vice Chairman) and Comrade Lekwot Friday Thomas, Secretary, said among other things that Mr. Abiodun Aina had neither the Higher National Diploma (HND) nor a Bachelor of Science (Bsc) to qualify him for employment in the service in the first place and that his appointment as coordinating director was a serious breach of the provisions of section 2.19 of the FIRS Human Resource policies and processes.
The submission which has as its title, ‘Communique from the Joint Union Council of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Emergency Meeting Held at the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria ASCSN, FIRS Unit Secretariat on the 10th of December, 2019,’ stated as follows:
“Please refer to the presidential directive on the appointment of the new FIRS Chairman wherein there was a presidential directive for handover to the most senior Director in the Service.
“The attention of the Joint Union council of FIRS has been drawn to the handover of the chairmanship of the FIRS on acting capacity to Mr. Abiodun Aina on Monday 9th December, 2019. This was a clear departure from the presidential directive on the handing over, as he was not the most senior Director.
Mr. Abiodun Aina in the first instance does not have the basic qualification/requirement of HND or BSc to be employed in the Service. Secondly, his appointment to the position of coordinating Director was against the provision of section 2.19 of the FIRS Human Resource policies and processes which states as follows:
Appointment to the post of coordinating Director shall be made by the Board on the recommendation of the Executive Chairman. The appointment shall be open to all confirmed Director of the Service and it shall be competitive based on experience, competence and seniority, (page 24) as he was never a Director in the Service, but rather a Senior Special Assistant to the erstwhile Chairman of FIRS.”
The communiqué went ahead to attach documents to show that Abiodun Aina’s name was never on the seniority list of confirmed FIRS staff and FIRS directors on the staff nominal roll, adding that his name was rather on the list of contract staff of FIRS.
On the strength of the above, the communiqué stated that the Joint Union Council of FIRS wishes to state as follows:
“That in accordance with the presidential directive, the seniority list should be followed and the appropriate person be directed to act, pending assumption of duty of the new FIRS Executive Chairman.
2. “That if by close of work on Friday 13th December, 2019, no action is taken to this effect, Union will no longer guarantee further industrial harmony in the system,” the Union threatened.
