Workers of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) on Friday protested the alleged unbundling of the postal agency in secrecy, alleging that the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy are indirectly selling NIPOST and its properties to their cronies.

The workers converged on the gate of the corporate headquarters of NIPOST in Abuja on Friday to protest the alleged commercialisation of the agency.

The workers, who were led by the leadership of two labour unions: the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC) and the National Union of Postal and Telecommunications Employees (NUPTE) workers of the agency, told newsmen that the protest was staged to alert President Muhammadu Buhari, relevant stakeholders as well as Nigerians at large of the plans of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) to tactically extinct NIPOST under the guise of reform/commercialisation.

Addressing journalists, SSASCGOC General Secretary, Comrade Ayo Olorunfemi, said: “BPE began the process of commercialisation in the Nigerian Postal Service with the assurance of making NIPOST a more service-oriented and profit-driven organization. The proposed reform according to the BPE will not only improve the traditional services of NIPOST but will also bring about new revenue streams for the Organization, which will in turn greatly impact the morale and welfare of staffers.

“In the year 2021, it became so glaring that the shrewd plan of the BPE, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMoCDE), the Federal Ministry of Finance and other self-centered individuals involved in this process was to tactically reap NIPOST of its assets and leave the organization high and dry as against the promised growth and improvement. Hence, every aspect of the proposed reform/ commercialisation has been shrewd in utmost secrecy.”

Among the burning issues the protesters raised were that the composition of the board of directors of the companies in charge of the agency clearly shows that NIPOST as an entity has no influence or stake in the subsidiaries.

“Section C of the objects for which the NIPOST Properties & Development Company Limited is established clearly states that the Company can SELL, lease or exchange the assets of NIPOST, a provision that empowers the company to sell off NIPOST assets if they so desire.”

The proposed plan by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) to share/hand over NIPOST properties to these companies is not necessary, as there is no basis for asset sharing since the said subsidiaries are owned by NIPOST as claimed by BPE.

“The recruitment of management staff of these companies was carried out without considering the current Management staff of NIPOST who are experienced in this sector and this management is a separate entity from NIPOST management as it neither reports to the PMG nor forms part of NIPOST top Management.

“The salaries of the management staff of these companies far outweigh the salaries of top management of NIPOST, a disparity that is alarming, whereas the mid-level staff of these companies are placed on the NIPOST condition of service and salary.

“The Honourable Minister, BPE and all those involved in this reform process have not made available any document or blueprint on the implementation plan of this process.

“The shareholdings of these companies as shown on CAC registration document are individuals, which raises a strong concern on whether or not NIPOST is actually the owner of the companies as claimed by BPE and there is no caveat anywhere stating that these individuals are holding the shares in trust for NIPOST,” he said. (The Nation)

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