RMAFC staff protest neglect by government

Staff of Workers Revenue Mobilsation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Wednesday protested against what they described as neglect and farming out their jobs to other agencies.

The workers under the aegis of the Nigerian Civil Service Union (SCSN) and the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) said the inability of the federal government to appoint a substantive chairman and the 30 remaining commissioners was threatening the activities of the commission.

NCSU chairman, Comrade Josiah Amanabi while addressing the staff during the protest on Wednesday said the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a new board to oversee the activities of the commission has made it difficult for it to carry out its statutory responsibilities.

Some of the placards carried by the workers read: “we are ready to carry out our duties”, “staff are now redundant”, “we need financial autonomy”, and “we have the capacity to block revenue leakages” among others.

“As we are talking to you, the National Economic Council (NEC) has contracted our job,” Comrade Anamabi said.

Also speaking to his colleagues who chanted solidarity songs, Chairman, ASCSN, Comrade Martins Adeoye, reiterated that RMAFC has only seven commissioners, an acting secretary and an acting chairman two years after the former chairman, Mr Elias Mbam, completed his tenure in November 2015.

“As we speak, some other bodies are making efforts to make sure that what ought to be our responsibility is given to consultants and that should not be so as it is an encroachment into our responsibilities.

“One of our core functions is to carry out oversight functions of the revenue collecting agencies of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Ministry of Finance.”

Comrade Adeoye added that staff welfare was also poor and that the condition of service, which the agency used as the basis to determine it had not been put into practice.

“So poor funding and administrative inertia are the issues we have and we are appealing to the President, Ministry of Finance and National Assembly to assist us to constitute the board so we can serve the nation better,” he said.

He also said the absence of a substantive chairman and secretary was also affecting the commission, hence he appealed that the board should be constituted.