Why SEC Staff held a Protest on Thursday

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) held a peaceful protest outside the SEC’s headquarters on Thursday.

 The raging employees declared that they orchestrated a protest to gain the attention of the Commission's board of directors, which was meeting at the time. During the protest, the staff of the commission expressed disappointment over issues such as unpaid allowances, delay in the conduct of promotion exercises as well as the appointment of directors in the commission.

Mr. Nelson Oleghe, the Chairman of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, SEC Unit, spoke with the journalist and mentioned several other difficulties affecting the employees, including parity adjustment, vacancy declaration, and examination structure.

Oleghe said the appointment of directors was one of the issues that needed to be addressed by the SEC management while discussing with the press at the end of a closed-door meeting with members of the association and the board.

He said, “Before now, we have had several issues that the board and management have not attended to. One of the issues is the appointment of directors. We had several discussions with the executive management to appoint directors from the deputy directors we have today but they said they will appoint only six due to lack of funds.”

“Reliably, we heard that there was a memo going to the board to bring in directors from outside including those that had served here, so we felt that would be an injustice to the system,” he added.

He mentioned that some staff have been operating for 7 years without promotion. He said, “Another issue is outstanding promotion; we have four sets of promotions that are due but not carried out. There is the staff that has stayed in a position for over seven years without promotion.”

What the staffs say

* The organisation Treasurer, Mr. Mamman Ali mentioned that the organisation was resting on the legacy and integrity of the commission's board Chairman, Mr. Olufemi Lijadu, to resolve their issues.

* Mr. Ibrahim Boyi, the SEC’s Executive Commissioner for Corporate Services, dealt with the workers during the protest and urged them to remain calm, stating that their actions should not be based on unauthorized information.

The protesting workers blocked the main entrance to the commission, making it difficult for the management staff and other people on appointments to have access to the premises.

In response to the union mandates, the commission persuaded its staff of the agency's commitment to ensuring industrial peace and harmony in the commission.