By Bimbola Oyesola
Thousands of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) members in the 19 northern states of the federation have condemned the invasion of the national secretariat of the association in Lagos by some suspected expelled members and hoodlums last Monday.
In a press statement issued in Kaduna and signed by the chairman of the northern forum of the association, Shehu Mohammed, and the secretary, Anthonia Pamson, the union members regretted that, instead of exhausting the court processes the former president, who had been expelled, initiated on the matter, he resorted to thuggery and extra-judicial means to return to power. The statement read, “Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria is made up of the cream of educated, knowledgeable, and civilized members in the Public Services of the Federal and 36 States Governments that cherish due process and decorum in managing the affairs of the Union.
“If Bola-Audu believes in deploying violence as a strategy to lead the Association, who are those Senior Civil Servants that will embrace his gangsterism and brigandage as tools for trade union practices in this 21st century,” they wondered.
They recalled that the former president was instructed to step aside in March last year by the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Association after he was arrested in Abuja by the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for alleged trafficking in persons and exploitation of vulnerable persons.
According to the Labour leaders, while the leadership of the Association was exploring informal channels to see how he could be given soft-landing by the authorities, he allegedly invaded the National Secretariat annex of the union in Abuja and indulged in all manner of constitutional breaches forcing the Association to expel him from the union in August last year.
The workers emphasized that the former president would be held solely responsible if any staff of the union at the National Secretariat in Lagos and Abuja was harmed in any way.
They accordingly warned him and his group to steer clear of the National Secretariats of the Association in Lagos and Abuja so that the union could continue to pursue the welfare of its members throughout the country as it had been doing over the decades.
The Northern leaders passed a vote of confidence on the National President of the Association, Tommy Etim Okon and the Secretary-General, Alade Bashir Lawal, urging them to remain steadfast and continue to defend the union.