NIPOST continues reforms despite postal bill delays

Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has begun a massive overhaul of men and machinery to position it as the biggest ecommerce and epayment player in the country despite the delay in the passage of the so-called postal reform bill.

Postal Reform Bill which has been on back and forth motion since its first introduction at the National Assembly in 2004, remains a clog on the wheels of courier sector growth and expansion in Nigeria.

But, Mr. Bisi Adegbuyi, post master general of the Federation, said a six-commercial business units including an e-commerce department had been put in place in order to take advantage of emerging business trends.

The six geopolitical zones of the country now constitute a zone in NIPOST’s new structure, according to him, adding that Lagos stands as a zone because of the volume of business that is handled in the area.

In the circular, which was obtained by our correspondent in Abuja, Adegbuyi also announced the appointment of Mr. Udo Ekong as Zonal Manager in charge of Enugu; Mr. A.E. Abiyangha, as Zonal Manager, Ibadan; and Mr. Ijamaka Iroamachi, as Zonal Manager, Lagos.

Others are Mr. Adebola Ayeni, Zonal Manager, Kaduna; Mr. Stephen Mbaya, Zonal Manager, Abuja; Mr. Egwu I. Egwu, Zonal Manager, Bauchi; and Mr. Usman Danlami was named the Zonal Manager, Benin.

In the circular, Adegbuyi said, “The restructuring is in line with the principle of delegation and devolution of powers to enable NIPOST to run in a more efficient manner to engender operational efficiency, better service delivery, diversification and inclusive growth process by all the members of staff of the organisation.”

It was learnt that the zonal structure would make decision taking easier as the zones would have the powers to take critical decisions for the good of the business.

However, a credible source at the service told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that recent Senate activities and rift with the Presidency might have delayed deliberations on the Bill which has become an Executive Bill.

According to the source, the PMG had visited a Senator from the South West region soliciting his backings for the reintroduction of the executive Bill.