FIIRO: Governing board conducts senior staff promotion exam without supervising ministry
…Recommends, approves over 305 for promotion
The tussle for leadership in once vibrant Federal Institute for Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO), has degenerated to the level that the institute’s Governing Board conducted promotion exams without the approval of the supervisory ministry, the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST).
It was gathered that the Chairman of the Governing Board, FIIRO, Alhaji Ibrahim Dan’Azumi Gwarzo gave a directive to the Overseeing Director, Dr. Mrs. Yemisi Asagbra to conduct the promotion exercise across board without ministerial approval, which violates the Due Process.
According to a source who pleaded anonymity, the Acting Head, HRM & Admin Department, Mr. L. A, Enwerem, had on July 26th, 2021 written an official memo advising that that Due Process be followed, stressing that the Supervisory Ministry was not carried along.
He noted that the Board connived with the Overseeing Director to conduct, recommend and approved the results without recourse to the FMST, stating that it violates due process, whereas the ministry ought to consider for approval or otherwise any list of candidates recommended and due for promotion by the management of the agency under it.
In utter disregard to due processes and regulations of non-interference of Governing Boards in the day to day running of MDAs, the FIIRO Overseeing DG had stated that she was directed by the Chairman, Governing Board to direct the Ag. Director, HRM to inform Management and staff of the Senior Staff Promotion Exercise.
The memo reads in part; “I write to draw your attention to your Wahtsapp message and phone call of 25th July, 2021 in respect of the Conduct of Senior Staff Promotion Interview, and further inform you that the HRM & Admin Department under my headship has not been carried along ab initio in the conduct of the 2021 senior staff promotion interview.
“The senior staff promotion interview exercise is an annual event that requires a long process of planning, follow ups and logistics. This suggests that the relevant stakeholders, including our parent (FMST), the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSSF), Federal Character Commission (FCC), and sister institutes or universities should be given specific time frame within which our interview will hold. I am not aware Ma, as the Head of HRM, of what the institute has done in this respect.
“I also observed that some of the staff who reside outside Lagos, needs at least two weeks to prepare for interview. In addition, it is important to note that due process need to be followed in all aspects of the conduct of the exercise in order to avoid a backlash of petitions that may arise from an untidy process. It is also important to seek for and obtain the approval of the ministry in carrying out an assignment of this magnitude.
“Therefore, I advise that the exercise be put on hold until proper consultations are carried out and the assurance of logistics obtained otherwise, I take a very strong exception to this arrangement where I am not full stream in conduct of the promotion exercise where my role starts and ends as directives to put up notice on the conduct of the interview.” The document reads.
