By VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

ASSOCIATION of  Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN,  has called for a public  probe into why the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, refused to obey a court order directing  INEC to allow its staff to join the union even after the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, advised INEC to do so.

President of ASCSN, Olakunle Olaitan, who spoke at the 2nd quadrennial National Delegates conference of the association in Lagos, said the probe should, among others, determine the beneficiaries of billions of public fund that INEC had allegedly  been investing in engaging Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to be prosecuting frivolous court cases on unionization and membership or otherwise of INEC workers.

He said: “You will be surprised to hear today that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the institution statutorily empowered to nurture democratic ideals in the country, has bluntly refused to allow its employees to belong to trade unions.

This is in spite of various court orders by the National Industrial Court (NIC), Federal High Court, Abuja, and the Court of Appeal, Abuja, that the commission should allow its workforce to join trade unions as specified in the Constitution of the country.

Indeed, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity had told INEC in clear terms that the broad mandate of the Commission and the specific nature of its duties all constitute democratic functions and that it is paradoxical that the Commission has barred its employees from enjoying the constitutional right of belonging to trade unions.”