Ministry’s staff reject FG’s weights and measures concession plan

Staff members of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest at the headquarters of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) in Abuja against the Federal Government’s plan to concession the ministry’s Weights and Measures Department. Established under Item 65 of the Exclusive Legislative List of the 1999 […]

Staff members of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest at the headquarters of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) in Abuja against the Federal Government’s plan to concession the ministry’s Weights and Measures Department.

Established under Item 65 of the Exclusive Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution and operating under the Weights and Measures Act, Cap W3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, the department ensures fairness and accuracy in commercial transactions involving weighing and measuring instruments across Nigeria.

With offices in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory and more than 450 inspectors, the department verifies and certifies measuring devices used in markets, fuel stations, industries and other commercial sectors.

The workers, chanting solidarity songs and displaying placards with various inscriptions, said concessioning the department’s functions to a private entity would render them redundant.

The protesters demanded clarity from government authorities, insisting that workers had not been properly briefed on the proposed concession.

“Our jobs are at stake,” said Alimi Olarenju Hamid, representing the Chairman of the Joint Negotiating Council in the ministry, during the protest.

Hamid argued that the Department of Weights and Measures was created through an Act of Parliament and could not simply be concessioned without legislative action.
“If, for any reason whatsoever, the department is to be concessioned, it must be referred to the National Assembly to repeal the Act,” he said.
He warned that workers were worried about the possible consequences of the policy.
“If the department is concessioned, the possibility of them losing their jobs is very, very certain, and this is what we are trying to avert,” Hamid added.
Vice Chairman of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, FMITI unit, Mirian Nduruka, said workers were not opposed to government policies but demanded transparency.
“We cannot obstruct any good policy from the government. But we need to understand what they have for us,” she said.
“Up to this moment, we have not been briefed by the management. The staff are just aloof. We don’t know what is happening.”
Addressing the protesters, an official of the ICRC, Yusuf Haruna, urged the workers to channel their grievances to the leadership of their ministry rather than the commission.
Haruna explained that the ICRC only receives and reviews projects forwarded by ministries and agencies of government.
“The first place you should be is with your ministry — with your Permanent Secretary and others. Understand what the project is about. There are no redundancies. Nobody will lose his job,” he said.
According to him, the Federal Government was considering concession arrangements because of funding constraints.
“Government is struggling to fund projects. When investors come in, they bring resources and additional value. They want to take the department to a level it has not yet reached,” Haruna said.
He insisted that documents before the commission did not indicate any job losses.
“For the issue of losing your jobs, these are matters we can address. From the documents we’ve seen, there are no job losses,” he said.