The Chairman of the Federal Internal Revenue Service, FIRS, Muhammad Nami, has been accused of discriminating against some staffers of the organization.
According to a source, personnel recruited when Fowler was in charge are being segregated by the new management. The new chairman succeeded Babatunde Fowler last December.
It is being alleged that he (Nami) nurses distrust for and treats the new staffers as outcasts.
He believes some of us were planted in the organization since we were recruited during the former chairman’s tenure. But that is not true, and I also believe that a government establishment should not be run based on the emotions of its chairman, said the source, who is a female manager.
She described the situation as demoralizing to the new staffers and affecting their productivity too.
Moreover, the new management has reportedly created a gulf between the new and old staffers. The FIRS chairman, as said, does not deal with the new staffers in the managerial level and ensures none of them is head of a department or unit.
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It was gathered that shortly after he resumed duty, Nami redeployed 227 staff members, some of which were ultimately sacked. The redeployment notice was conveyed via a memo dated February 27.
Barely a month after, another memo seen by this medium, was issued, announcing the sacking of all directors. The memo dated March 20th and signed by the FIRS chairman (Nami) said the directors had spent eight or more years in the service and deserved to go, in line with paragraph 10.1 (a)(ii) of the FIRS Human Resource Policies and Procedures.
The sweeping purge, however, was said to be a red-herring by the chairman to get at those he suspected as having close relationship with his predecessor. An assistant director, who like his colleague pleaded anonymity for fear of retribution, said most of the sacked directors were recalled and given new postings except the targeted ones. It is clear to everyone that Muhammad Nami is pursuing a vendetta. He added that there is palpable fear among the new staff that they might be denied promotion when the exercise begins.
Moreover, it was insinuated that Namis actions are deliberate and borne out of hatred for his predecessor. It was said, for instance, that Nami has so far refused to use the well-furnished chairman’s office, located at 20 Sokode Crescent, in Wuse Zone 5 of the Federal Capital. Fowler had used the same office during his four-year tenure as FIRS boss. Instead of the designated office, Nami had the old chairman’s office at No.15, Annex I refurbished and from where he operates.
It was purported that an atmosphere of gloom currently pervades the FIRS as the new staffers are uncertain of their fate and are seeking the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly in the matter.
