Nigerians are leveling accusations against NIPOST workers, alleging systematic theft of parcels originating from the US, UK, and other foreign countries.

According to aggrieved victims, valuable items such as iPhone 15s and gold jewelry sent to NIPOST offices in Abuja, Lagos, and Ibadan have gone missing, despite tracking showing their arrival at these facilities.

Outraged by what they perceive as a pattern of dishonesty, Nigerians have taken to social media, including X (formerly Twitter), to voice their grievances and cast suspicion on NIPOST employees for pilfering expensive packages intended for delivery.

An X user @emmachidii stated, “Nipost I paid for an urgent delivery(EMS express delivery), contract proposal with a definite time, from Port Harcourt to Lagos, made payment, both stamp duty, the mumu people no deliver the documents. I weak, na so the deadline passed.

Another user @ghibee_NG stated, “A package was delivered to NIPOST Ibadan …it arrived and I didn’t get a call or nothing for 3wks .. after another few weeks of back and forth ..i got the package but they legit opened the package and took a pack of candy and chocolate and shared amongst themselves.

Also @Maleekoyibo wrote, “If your mother works at NIPOST AREA 1, Just know she’s a Thief. A client sent back a gold jewelry from the US, using Nipost.

“It arrived Abuja and no one called, after about 2 weeks, we went to Nipost Area 1, this woman denied receiving our package & asked us to go to Nipost Area 10, Area 10 couldn’t find it & they sent us back to the woman.

“After many back and forth a director from the headquarters had to give us a note, to hand to the woman. Immediately she read the note, she opened her Drawer and gave us the package, it was in her drawer all these while. Thieves, most staffs at NIPOST are thieves”.

Additionally @dangbanamanager said “A watch was sent from the USA to Nigeria via USPS and arrived in Lagos, but someone in Nipost swapped it with a Lagos Island watch. I’m so tired of this.

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has unveiled the details of his earnings during his tenure as a lawmaker.

Addressing attendees at the House of Representatives’ open week celebration in Abuja, Dogara disclosed that his total allowance amounted to ₦25 million, alongside a salary of ₦400,000.

He emphasized the importance of providing clarity on these figures to correct misconceptions about the earnings of National Assembly members.

Dogara argued that such misunderstandings have unfairly tarnished the reputation of lawmakers and led to unwarranted accusations of financial impropriety against them.

He said “While I was a Speaker, my salary was ₦400 thousand Naira, and my total allowance was ₦25 million naira, I told my accountant to open a separate account for the allowances, and I never for once took any money out of that account everything that came into that account was used to cater for the needs of constituents.

“My accountant complained of the level of demand on the account, and I told him if the money there is finished, borrow, and when money comes it you return to where you had taken money from.

“I am saying this so Nigerians will give their legislatures breathing space and know that the narrative is not true about members’ pay.” he added

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has threatened to resume its strike from July 4th, 2024, accusing the Federal Government of exacerbating divisions within the tertiary education system.

The SSANU expressed frustration over the non-payment of four months’ salaries that were withheld by the government during the strike period of its sister union, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

These issues, alongside other challenges facing the tertiary education sector, were central topics at SSANU’s 48th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the University of Benin, Edo State, last weekend.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC), consisting of SSANU and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), had previously issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to settle the salary arrears.

SSANU criticized the government for selectively paying ASUU while neglecting the other three university-based unions that participated in the 2022 strike.

With the ultimatum set to expire on July 4th, SSANU has now renewed its strike notice, citing unresolved grievances over salary payments and other outstanding issues.

According to a communique issued, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of SSANU and NASU is scheduled to convene on the mentioned date to assess the government’s response to their ultimatum and coordinate a unified stance regarding service withdrawal.

SSANU, in the statement signed by its President, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, accuses the government of displaying insensitivity and intentionally fostering discord within the university system through a divide-and-rule strategy.

The communique read, “NEC in session once again expresses utmost dismay at the unprecedented level of Government’s insensitivity and deliberate resolve to cause chaos in the university system by adopting the divide and rule policy to set unions on a collision course through preferential treatment of one union over others.

“Recall SSANU and other unions were compelled by government to embark on strike in 2022 over the refusal to honour a Collective Bargaining Agreement willingly signed by all parties.

“At the end of the strike, the then (Muhammadu) Buhari government further signed an elaborate agreement among which was the non victimization clause. However, government made a selective payment of the withheld salaries.

“While we do not begrudge the payment made to our colleagues, we expected same gesture to be extended to SSANU and NASU that legally complied with all procedures before embarking on the Industrial action.

Despite all promises and media hypes by the Ministers of Education and Labour, including the House of Representatives to pay these arrears, Government has continued to dribble SSANU, even after the mutual agreement to suspend the one week warning strike in March this year.

“NEC in session deliberated on the matter and unanimously approved a long drawn comprehensive industrial action after concurrence with the Joint Action Committee meeting of SSANU and NASU scheduled for Thursday 4th July, 2024, if Government fails to pay the four months salary arrears.”

SSANU has also criticized the government’s approved wage award of N35,000 intended to mitigate the impact of the halted fuel subsidy, which has exacerbated financial strains.

They highlighted that the wage award has been discontinued in Federal Universities, leaving three months of arrears unpaid.

The association pointed out that several states have yet to implement the wage award for their members in state universities, aggravating their financial hardships.

SSANU called on the Federal Government to promptly reinstate the wage award payments and settle the outstanding three months arrears without further delay.

Additionally, it also called upon state governments that have not yet initiated payments of the approved wage award to promptly begin disbursing the funds, including any accumulated arrears.