Census Watch (CW), a non-governmental organisation, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the sources of the protracted crisis at the National Population Commission (NPC).

National Coordinator of the organisation, Dr. Silvanus Okafor, in a statement on Tuesday said that the protests over the reappointment of Dr. Ghaji Bello as Director General of the Commission appears suspicious, especially as the same person had earlier served in the same office meritoriously without a single complaint against him.

He said: “So, there can be no justifiable reason for the continued protest by a few aggrieved staff members since the issues of staff welfare has now been addressed by the Commission”.

CW asked Buhari to pay attention to the on-going protest by some aggrieved staff members of the NPC, adding that the protests look “suspicious and ill-motivated.”

It said it has carried out its own independent investigation into the crisis at the Commission, stating that the desperation by some aggrieved workers to support a particular senior staff for the position of Director General is the reason behind their recalcitrance.

Some union members on Tuesday continued to protest by locking up the entrance gates at the Commission’s head office in Wuse, Zone 2 Abuja despite interventions by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Monday.

The two umbrella labour unions had directed NPC workers under the Joint Action Committee (JAC) to sheathe their sword pending a meeting with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, noting that the issues could only be resolved with dialogue.

“We want to assure you that we have taken up the issue, it will be devoid of sentiment and politicisation,” TUC President Bobboi Kaigama had told the protesters on Monday.

The unionists are protesting against the reappointment of Dr. Ghaji Ismaila Bello as DG, accusing him of incompetence and corruption both administratively and technically.