Protesting DICON Employees Risk Prison Terms, says DG

The Director-General of the Defence Industries Corporation, Kaduna, Major-Gen. Aniedi Edet has frowned at the ongoing protest by some civilian staff of the military organisation.

Consequently, General Edet warned that the protesting staff risked prison terms going by the provision of the Act which forbids any form of protest, trade unionism and strike by the staff of the corporation.

Recall some civilian staff of the DICON embarked on protest, demanding staff enrolment into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), from the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), payment of 6 months palliative allowances, lopsided payment of allowances(divide and rule) as well as payment of 2022 and 2023 promotion arrears, among others.

The staff during the protest in front of the DICON factory located in Kakuri area, Kaduna South Local Government Area, were spotted carrying a banner with inscription such as ‘Enrollment into IPPIS’, ‘Payment of our 6 months’, ‘Payment of 2019 minimum wage arrears’, ‘Stop lopsided payment of allowance’ and ‘Payment of 2022 and 2023 promotion arrears…”

However, while addressing newsmen on the issue in Kaduna, the DICON boss maintained that the protesting staff were out to sabotage management’s efforts in repositioning the organisation for greater efficiency.

He noted that the protest was not only a threat to national security but could scare away potential investors to DICON while adding that the protestors’ action could be hijacked by miscreants in view of the insecurity in the state.

The DICON boss, however, reminded the protesting staff of the provisions of the staff conditions of service and its consequences when violated, saying, “Section 3: ( Sub-section 11): By the provisions of section 11 of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria ( DICON) Act 1962, it is an offence punishable by imprisonment on conviction of any person employed by the Corporation in any capacity to take part in a strike or trade union activities, the management shall establish proper channels of communication with employees in order to address issues affecting their joint or individual interest.”

Edet further lamented that the protesters kept churning out lies just to curry public sympathy, saying that it was not only DICON that is currently on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) that would warrant being migrated to Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System ( IPPIS) as demanded by them(protesters).

“The lies they tell is that it is only DICON that is on GIFMIS. It is not true. It is a government platform. Am I the one that brought GIFMIS? if the government platform is not good, then you are telling the Federal Government that they don’t know what they are doing,” he said.

The DICON boss continued, “and the protesting staff dropped their banner and went to the bank to collect their salaries and came back and picked the banner. They ran to the pressmen to report the protest. Did they tell pressmen about the salary? So they misinformed the pressmen that it is only DICON that is on GIFMIS.

“Every defence agency is on GIFMIS. They collect their salary and pay. The protesting staff also talked about palliative. Yes, the federal government is still processing it.

“The federal government promised to give this money. They have not given you and you are now protesting that they have not given you. You don’t need to embarrass the government because they are doing everything possible to give out the palliative.

“They also talked about minimum wage. Again this is not money paid to DICON and I keep it. Many organisations have not been paid this minimum wage and 2019 allowance. And all we can do as Ministry, Department and Agency (MDAs) is to write to the government to pursue it.

“They talked about the 2022 and 2023 promotions. If you ask me how many of them were promoted in 2022 and 2023, they are not more than two of them. You are not promoted in 2022 and 2023, you are fighting for promotion arrears.

“The Federal Government managed to clear 2019, 2020 and 2021 promotion arrears last year. The promotion arrears of 2022 and 2023 have not been paid, not only to DICON but to all the ministries.”

He added, “I want to talk about the implications of this action. It has a lot of implications based on national security. We are in the business of arms and ammunition. There is no amount of money and allowance paid to DICON for the staff that I will keep it without paying to them.

“So, these disgruntled elements want to jeopardise the production we are doing at DICON. They have received salaries. So what they are doing is to attract unnecessary attention.

“None of the money they are claiming is with us. At the time Mr. President is making efforts for DICON to grow. They embark on a protest to drive away our investors because DICON staff are protesting.

“As I speak to you the staff that are supposed to work are in the factory working. So, who are these staff that are trying to give us a bad name?

“We know that the situation in Kaduna is a little bit volatile. So who knows if this kind of bad action can be hijacked by miscreants on a national infrastructure like DICON.

“What is going on there is mischief, it is baseless and unfounded. We are professional and law abiding and we have nothing to hide. There are ways to express your grievances but based on the DICON Act, staff are not allowed to protest and their action is highly illegal.” ENDS…