The Imo State chapter of the Nigeria Civil Service Union has protested the intention of the State Government to repost workers of Imo Board of Internal Revenue (BIR) to other ministries and agencies.
The workers made their position known through a protest march to the Imo State House of Assembly on Tuesday.
The Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr Paul Akalazu, who led the march, said BIR was a highly technical department and that the staff had acquired the requisite skills and knowledge to work in the organisation.
Akalazu said the government should consider this before deciding to repost the workers to other government establishments.
He said that there were procedures within the framework of the Public Service to which the reorganisation of any ministry, department or agency should strictly adhere.
The TUC chairman added that sending the staff to other MDAs where their skills were not useful would be akin to rendering them redundant.
He urged the state government to renegotiate the terms of the reposting of the staff with their representatives and called for them to maintain the status quo.
Contributing, the Assistant Secretary General of the Nigerian Civil Service Union, Mr Luka Dahang, urged the protesting staff to be resolute and assured them that none of them would be sacked.
Dahang noted that some of the staff of BIR were Chartered Tax Officers whose services would be useless elsewhere.
He alleged that the state government was in the process of training replacements for the staff to be redeployed and advised them not to accept any reposting letters unless the proper civil service rules were followed.
“We want to negotiate favourable terms for everyone involved to ensure that neither the government nor the staff is cheated,” he said.
Responding, Mr Kennedy Ibe, the House Committee Chairman on IGR, Internal Resources and Pension matters said their grievances would be taken up at the appropriate quarters.
Ibe commended the workers for its peaceful conduct and assured them that the matter would be properly investigated.
