ESTABLISHED through the Research Institute Establishment Act of 1977, the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, Lagos has, as its core mandate, to conduct research into diseases of public health importance in Nigeria and develop structures for dissemination of such research findings.
This, the institute has been carrying 'out in over 38 years of its existence. However, there seems to be cracks on the wall of the institute in the last five years. The last five years could best be described as the most turbulent period in the history of the establishment, following series of allegations by the staff against the management. It was gath ered that the leadership is currently being investigated by the two anti-graft agencies in the country - the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over' various allegations of financial malfeasance and gross abuse of office.
Several allegations have been levelled against the leadership, ranging from employment racketeering, mis-: management of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the institute, inflated contracts awards, ghost projects, illegal payment of salaries and other deductions to financial recklessness, bribing of federal auditors, total disregard to staff matters and welfare among others.
The management is also being accused of sidelining the highest decision making organ of the institute - the Senior Management Committee (SMC), from employment, promotion and staff welfare, among others. The leadership has equally been accused of handling all the financial matters of the institute in cahoots with the staff in charge of procurement, who allegedly handles everything. The audit and accounts department is allegedly sidelined in all financial transactions, apart from documentation of such financial dealings.
Employment racketeering The management is alleged to have issued employment letters in one fen swoop to over 65 staff on December 16,2013. The grouse of the staff, from investigation, is not just about the number of persons that were employed but the fact that most of them are not qualified for the positions they currently occupy, especially those in the directorate level. They cited a case of the Deputy Director (DD), Finance and Account. They alleged that the person that was recruited to fill the position, an alleged associate of a topnotch, is an outsider, who is less qualified compared to the two chief accountants already in the system.v'The newly employed DD, Finance andAc count, does not have the pre-requisite qualification and years of cognate experience for the job. More so, he is a pensioner of a. scraped govemment agency," a worker who preferred anonymity stated.
The management is also alleged to have filled the position of the Deputy Director of Administration with. an outsider, who is alleged to be a crony to a bigwig even when vacancy to the position was not officially advertised.
Investigation further revealed that candidates with irrelevant qualifications to the NIMR mandate were employed, particularly to the research area. For instance, there is a case of somebody with a first degree in Geology, who was employed as a research staff while the minimum qualification for a research fellow in the institute is a Master's degree in biomedical field. "To create opportunities for such people with irrelevant qualifications to the man:date of NIMR, the bigwig unilaterally created new positions, such as scientific officer, commercial officer, information officer, programme analyst, among others just to accommodate them," a source volunteered. There is also allegation that many of the newly employed personnel are 'relatives of a helmsman. To buttress the allegation, the source reeled out names similar to that of one of the top men even as one them is said to double as a contractor at the same time. "Also, his cousins and nephews have been brought in. Their employment 'did not follow due process of recruitment into the NIMR and majority of them are not' qualified to occupy the position they are holding," the anonymous source stated.
The last five years could best be described as the most turbulent period in the history of the establishment, following series of allegations by the staff against the, management."
The leadership is also accused of favouritism and clannishness: It is alleged to have favoured many of the newly employed personnel, who are related to a boss. "Many of the newly employed, especially those related to the Oga, wereplaced on grade levels higher than their qualifications. For instance,an MBA holder without any relevant experience was placed onConsolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) 12 just as another Higher National Diploma (HND) holder and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree holder were placed on CONHESS 8 & 9 respectively, instead of CONHESS 7, which is the starting point for a first degree holder. Another peE on (names withheld by us) was also ployed as an Information Officer 1, ith an MSc admission letter and placed on CONHESS 9. Meanwhile, he has refused to promote or upgrade existing staff despite having obtained additional qualifications," the source informed.
Backdated employment Investigation revealed that the employment date of many new staff employed between November 2014 and early January 2015 was backdated to December 2013. It was gathered that because the over 65 new employees were employed without due process and withoutan adequate provision in the 2013 budget; they were paid using the salary shortfall of the existing staff of NIMR. This did not go down well with the staff as they immediately accused the boss of illegal payment of salaries and other deductions. It was also gathered that all the salaries earned between December 2013 and January 2015, when the newly employed officially resumed duties, were paid into a private NIMR account that is not remitted to the federation's account.
"With the backdated employment, those newly employed staff started earning salaries even before their resumption at NIMR. They were asked ' to refund these up front salaries to a private NIMR account that is not remitted to the federation's account. In fact, a rough estimate of the amount of money made from the job scam by the DG and his agents could be in the neighbourhood of N42.25 million," the source stated.
By: Sunday Ani ([email protected])
Daily Sun News
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