The organized labor movement in Niger State has called on the state governor, Sani Bello, to suspend the embattled chairman of the Niger State Board of Internal Revenue, Muhammad Madami Etsu, to allow a smooth investigation into the allegations leveled against him.
The labour unions also called for the dissolution and reconstitution of the committee set up to investigate Mr Etsu, saying it has lost confidence in the committee members.
Recall that some members of the board have written a petition to the governor over allegations of corruption and misconduct against the chairman.
In response to the petition, the state government set up a committee to investigate the allegations leveled against Mr Estu.
Members of the committee include the state accountant general, the permanent secretary of Ministry of Water Resources and a representative of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
But the organized labour in a letter dated November 30, signed by the state NLC chairman, Idris Lafene, and TUC chairman, Ibrahim Gana, gave the state governor till Monday, December 5, to effect the suspension of the chairman, or the organized Labour will be forced to take necessary actions on the matter.
“His Excellency will recall our letter of appeal for your intervention to prevail on the Chairman of the Niger State Board of Internal Revenue to administer the Board in accordance with the laid down extant laws of the state as stipulated in the scheme of service.
“The call to Mr. Governor was borne out of genuine concern of the Organized Labour to ensure that the Board chairman was prevailed upon to resort to provisions of Niger State Scheme of Service and those of the Niger State Civil Service Regulation and the Gazette guiding the operations of the Niger State Board of Internal Revenue in handling workplace disputes, grievances, and infractions as it concerned the reported misgivings between him and some of the management staff of the board.
The letter also informed the governor of the withdrawal of the Organized Labour from the committee set up to investigate the petition on the allegation leveled against the revenue chairman.
“The State Administrative Council of Organized Labour in Niger State convened an emergency meeting to deliberate on the matter and observed that all extant laws stipulate that an officer under investigation of misconduct of this magnitude must step down to allow smooth conduct of the investigation without undue interference.
“Niger State Government has until Monday 5th December 2022 to suspend the Board Chairman and reconstitute the investigative committee to include CSOs, ICPC, and EFCC. Failure of which the Organized Labour shall be forced to take further necessary actions on the matter.
“To minimize conflict of interest and ensure a fair hearing on the matter, there is an urgent need for the committee to be dissolved and reconstituted to draw membership from CSOs, ICPC, and EFCC in addition to representatives from statutory MDAs and Organized Labour.
“Effective Monday, 29th November 2022, the Organized Labour shall withdraw from the Committee put in place to Investigate the petition on allegation leveled against the Chairman, Niger State Board of Internal Revenue until the Chairman of the Board is suspended to allow the committee to function effectively,” the letter read.
The organized Labour disclosed that an emergency state executive council meeting would be held on Tuesday, December 6 to further deliberate on the matter and determine the next line of action.
Speaking to DAILY NIGERIAN, a member of the investigation committee who pleaded anonymity accused the labour union of blackmailing the committee members.
He said it was unfortunate for organized labour to accuse its members of a clash of interest on the matter when it had just barely begun sitting.
“We had barely had two sittings, the inaugural meeting and the second meeting, where we discussed modalities and invited the petitioners to defend their allegations.
“But it’s unfortunate that they are trying to discredit our work due to a prejudiced mindset,” the source said.
