• As protesting staff issues 24hr ultimatum to return money
The Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) has debunked the claims by some of its staff that the SGF, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim had fleeced them of the sum of N1.2 billion allegedly meant for their unpaid allowances and other entitlements.
The Special Assistant (Media) to the SGF, Mr. Sam Nwaobasi, in response to THISDAY enquiries yesterday, denied the allegations as a total ruse, saying Anyim was neither involved in any meeting nor negotiation with the staff union and was not involved in the purported scam.
Nwaobasi also said that SGF was not aware of any protests against him, noting that he was only aware of several meetings between the members of the OSGF Staff Union and the Permanent Secretary to address some outstanding issues bordering on Staff welfare without mentioning any sum of money.According to him, the staff union had met the Permanent Secretary on April 27, 2014 to respond to the 18-point issues raised by the Staff in their letter dated April 23, 2017 where they listed amongst other things the need for ATM centres, sporting facilities and some unpaid allowances amongst others.
“I can tell you that in all this, there were no formal allegations of N1.2bn and SGF was never mentioned in anywhere and had never met with them. As I told you all their meetings has been with the permanent secretary who has addressed the issues they tabled and promised to tackle the ones that are possible within the confines of the resources.
“There is nowhere in this OSGF that there was any protest against the SGF. What I know is the Joint Council of Unions of OSGF submitted a document dated 23rd of April of where they listed 18 items including ATM, which we know only banks can install this, gym and sports centres, more staff canteen, staff buses and other allowances owed to some retired staff amongst others. These are some of the issues they raised. Following this, the Permanent Secretary organised a meeting dated 27th of April where he explained points by points on what they can do and the one that cannot be possible at the moment.
Afterwards they agreed to discuss the issues with members and report back to the Permanent Secretary, who is still waiting for them. So in this thing SGF was not mentioned and were not involved let alone such figures being bandied by some people who want to be mischievous,” he explained.
However, THISDAY was informed that the staff union had planned the protest last Tuesday but has to put it on hold until yesterday when Anyim was reported to be around and blocked strategic entrances upon his arrival later in the day.
According to OSGF staff who spoke to some journalists on the condition of anonymity, the protesters are allegedly fed up with what they described as financial impropriety with regards to issue of welfare and allowances which have accumulated for a long period.
The staff further claimed that they have petitioned the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde, over the matter, who was purported to have visited the SGF on the matter and held a closed door discussion which outcome was not made known to the protesting staff.
“The man is a trillionaire and yet he keeps cornering the little that is meant for staff allowances. Just recently, he sold two of his houses in Asokoro for N1.7billion each. That was beside the dollars he moves around in his almost every night from the state house”, he alleged.
According to the source, the angry civil servants have given the SGF a 24-hour ultimatum to return the money or face the consequences.
- Thisday
The Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) has debunked the claims by some of its staff that the SGF, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim had fleeced them of the sum of N1.2 billion allegedly meant for their unpaid allowances and other entitlements.
The Special Assistant (Media) to the SGF, Mr. Sam Nwaobasi, in response to THISDAY enquiries yesterday, denied the allegations as a total ruse, saying Anyim was neither involved in any meeting nor negotiation with the staff union and was not involved in the purported scam.
Nwaobasi also said that SGF was not aware of any protests against him, noting that he was only aware of several meetings between the members of the OSGF Staff Union and the Permanent Secretary to address some outstanding issues bordering on Staff welfare without mentioning any sum of money.According to him, the staff union had met the Permanent Secretary on April 27, 2014 to respond to the 18-point issues raised by the Staff in their letter dated April 23, 2017 where they listed amongst other things the need for ATM centres, sporting facilities and some unpaid allowances amongst others.
“I can tell you that in all this, there were no formal allegations of N1.2bn and SGF was never mentioned in anywhere and had never met with them. As I told you all their meetings has been with the permanent secretary who has addressed the issues they tabled and promised to tackle the ones that are possible within the confines of the resources.
“There is nowhere in this OSGF that there was any protest against the SGF. What I know is the Joint Council of Unions of OSGF submitted a document dated 23rd of April of where they listed 18 items including ATM, which we know only banks can install this, gym and sports centres, more staff canteen, staff buses and other allowances owed to some retired staff amongst others. These are some of the issues they raised. Following this, the Permanent Secretary organised a meeting dated 27th of April where he explained points by points on what they can do and the one that cannot be possible at the moment.
Afterwards they agreed to discuss the issues with members and report back to the Permanent Secretary, who is still waiting for them. So in this thing SGF was not mentioned and were not involved let alone such figures being bandied by some people who want to be mischievous,” he explained.
However, THISDAY was informed that the staff union had planned the protest last Tuesday but has to put it on hold until yesterday when Anyim was reported to be around and blocked strategic entrances upon his arrival later in the day.
According to OSGF staff who spoke to some journalists on the condition of anonymity, the protesters are allegedly fed up with what they described as financial impropriety with regards to issue of welfare and allowances which have accumulated for a long period.
The staff further claimed that they have petitioned the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde, over the matter, who was purported to have visited the SGF on the matter and held a closed door discussion which outcome was not made known to the protesting staff.
“The man is a trillionaire and yet he keeps cornering the little that is meant for staff allowances. Just recently, he sold two of his houses in Asokoro for N1.7billion each. That was beside the dollars he moves around in his almost every night from the state house”, he alleged.
According to the source, the angry civil servants have given the SGF a 24-hour ultimatum to return the money or face the consequences.
- Thisday
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