Ondo State Worker have rejected the government’s move to conduct competency test for staff of the state Board of Internal Revenue.
This was one of the resolutions of the workers’ leadership under the aegis of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council on Monday, where issues on their welfare were deliberated upon.
Prior to the resolution, JNC leaders, led by the Chairman, Sunday Adeleye, and Secretary, Wole Akinlolu, stormed the BIR premises at Alagbaka on Monday and directed all workers in the office not to show up for the test scheduled to start on Monday.
Consequently, the JNC sent a letter to the BIR Chairman, Mr. Akin Akinterinwa, with a declaration that, “We say no to competency test”.
The council described the proposed test as “ill-conceived and booby trap for the staff in order for the management to achieve its ulterior motive”.
It further stated that organised labour in the state had no confidence in the competency test being masterminded by the chairman of BIR.
According to the letter, as a political office holder, Mr. Akinterinwa has no right to enter into any alliance with any consultant to conduct any test in order to retrench workers.
The letter partly read, “We wish to state in clear, unambiguous and unqualified terms that under no circumstances should workers in any sector of the state public service, especially Board of Internal
Revenue, be subjected to such a ridiculous test.
“All workers in the state public service were recruited following due process. They were interviewed (written/oral) and adjudged competent before recruitment into the service.
“If incompetent workers were by error of omission and commission recruited into the service, it is the fault of the employers through the recruitment agency, and not the innocent workers.
“We are of the candid opinion that the idea of competency test is being proposed for workers in the Board of Internal Revenue to achieve ulterior motive by the protagonists, perhaps to redeploy their favourites to some choice departments or to lay-off our innocent workers under guise of incompetence”.
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