By Dayo Johnson

Akure—A non-governmental organisation, the Census Watch  has called on  President Muhammadu Buhari to pay attention to the on-going protest by some aggrieved staff members of the National Population Commission, NPC, describing it as suspicious and ill-motivated.

The group said the desperation by some aggrieved workers to support a particular senior staff for the position of Director General is the reason behind their recalcitrance.

President Buhari

Recall that some union members protested by locking up the entrance gates at the Commission’s head office in Wuse, Zone2 Abuja despite interventions by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and Trade Union Congress, TUC, on Monday.

The unionists are protesting against the reappointment of Director General of the Commission, Dr. Ghaji Ismaila Bello, accusing him of incompetence and corruption both administratively and technically.

Census Watch, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Dr. Silvanus Okafor said “Dr. Ghaji Bello had earlier served meritoriously; there was no single complaint against him.”

He added that “there can be no justifiable reason for the continued protest by a few aggrieved staff members since the issues of staff welfare has now been addressed by the Commission.”

A Federal Commissioner representing one of the Southern states has expressed regret that “a few staff members have been allowed to hold government business to ransom in a sensitive office like NPC.

At the meeting of  January 25, 2018  between the Union leaders, management and the Minister of Labour, the matters relating to Staff Welfare were resolved. The meeting agreed that greater attention be paid to the clearance of the outstanding staff allowances such as repatriation, burial, duty tour, among others.