The National Union of Postal and Telecommunication Employees (NUPTE) has urged the new Postmaster-General of NIPOST, Mr Bisi Adegbuyi, to ensure speedy passage of the Postal Reform Bill at the 8th National Assembly.
The President of NUPTE, Mr Sunday Alhassan, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday that the passage of the bill is “long overdue”.
According to him, the bill, when passed, will facilitate the revival and repositioning of NIPOST into an efficient and commercially-driven postal service provider in the country.
“As workers representatives, the Nigerian Postal Service is a place, whose workers have yearned for the passage of the Postal Reform Bill by the National Assembly.
“We understand that the bill has passed second reading already in the 8th National Assembly.
“We believe that the passage of that bill will ensure that NIPOST will no longer have the dual responsibility of being an operator and a regulator at the same time.
“It means that the new person will shoulder the responsibility of liaising with the National Assembly to see how the bill can be passed.’’
Alhassan commended President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing a substantive postmaster-general for NIPOST.
He observed that the appointment of a new postmaster-general was “long overdue”.
He said: “We congratulate Asiwaju Bisi Adegbuyi on his well-deserved appointment as the substantive postmaster-general and chief executive officer of Nigeria Postal Service.
“We are so delighted because this is 12 months since the last substantive postmaster-general was relieved of his duty.
“Since then, we have had three persons to act as postmaster-general, and as workers, we were not comfortable with it in the sense that we know there is a limit to which a chief executive in acting capacity could go.
“That was actually affecting our service delivery.’’
Alhassan called on the new postmaster-general to constitute a management team that would help reposition NIPOST towards providing world class postal services.
He further urged the postmaster-general to consider workers’ welfare a top priority, saying it would boost their morale and enhance productivity. (NAN)