Labour crisis: CAC staff urge presidency to caution registrar over ‘interference’

The staff of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) have accused Garba Abubakar, the registrar general of the commission, of interfering with the activities of its union.

Addressing journalists on Saturday, the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), the staff in-house union, urged the presidency to caution the registrar who they alleged was plotting the removal of some of its leaders.

TheCable has contacted the CAC for comment but has not yet had a response.

There has been a prolonged labour crisis at the commission following a misunderstanding between the management and the staff over issues to do with the unionisation of the workers.

Some of the workers had also accused the agency’s management of corruption and anti-labour activities.

At the briefing in Abuja, Muda Ukpo, acting secretary-general of AUPCTRE, alleged that the registrar general was interfering in the activities of the union by transferring some of its leaders outside Abuja.

“The union is appealing to the presidency to prevail on the Registrar General to stop his victimisation of its executives and rescind their transfer outside the headquarters, witch hunting and impending outright sack from the commission,” Ukpo said.

“We are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari through his chief of staff, Prof.Ibrahim Gambari, Senate President Ahmed Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives,  Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila to wade into this crisis and save our jobs.

He also called on the presidency and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to act on an earlier petition and investigate the allegations of abuse of office levelled against Abubakar.

In the earlier petition to the presidency, AUPCTRE had accused the registrar general of “illegally dissolving the union executive and banning them from operating and transferring all executives to different parts of the country to weaken the union.”

The petition, a copy of which was seen by TheCable, asked the president to “reverse his punitive transfer against CAC workers and be directed to respect constituted authorities.”

“As an ardent believer in dialogue as a way of resolving the industrial crisis, the union has made efforts to meet with Alhaji Garba Abubakar and his management team but has always been rebuffed as he feels too big to meet with the union and understand the grievances of the employees under him,” it had said.