…Beg Fayemi for re-absorption
By Demola Atobaba, Ado-Ekiti
The over 2,000 Civil servants whose appointments were terminated by the Ekiti State government on Wednesday have staged a peaceful protest to appeal to the state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi to rescind his decision to relieve them.
The protesters which include 600 primary and secondary school teachers, 400 Junior Cadre, 300 Senior Cadre, 600 SUBEB, and 376 Local Government workers employed by Governor Ayodele Fayose after the July 14, 2018 election in the state.
They stormed the Teaching Service Commission located within the State Secretariat complex at about 8:30am, where they displayed their letters of appointments to convince the people that they were legitimate workers.
The Commissioner for Information, Aare Muyiwa Olumilua, earlier on Wednesday, revealed the government’s intention to sack the 2,000 workers and others whose appointments contravened the law.
But addressing newsmen on the contentious issue, the spokesman of the sacked workers, Mr. Kolawole Ganiyu said contrary to the pronouncement made by the state government, they were employed legally and that their appointments were in line with the civil service rule.
His word: “During the Fayose-led government, we were at home when vacancies were advertised. We paid N1,000 to buy forms. We wrote examinations and sat for interview. Scores of the examinations results were pasted at TSC.
“Later, qualified people sat for interview and letters of appointments and posting were given to successful applicants. What was in our letters was that, we are to work for three months before getting salaries, but we have not been paid a dime since eight months ago.
“Government must be passionate. We were born and brought up here in Ekiti. Most of us have relocated to our schools and worked hard. Some of us even resigned from our previous places of work to take up these appointments.”
One of the affected workers who could not hold her tears, Mrs Ronke Omilabu appealed to the government to have mercy on them, adding that they need to be paid of their outstanding entitlements of the seven months.
According to her: “We have been going to our various places of duty since last year September but nothing show for it. SOureven months without payment is not a joke. Our families are dying of hunger, we want government to consider our plight.
Another victim, Mr. Akande Adekunle, expressed sadness that they could be allowed to suffer since September 28, 2018, they were offered employment without any pay.
“We went through due process. It was a process that was legitimate. When the present government came, we expected pronouncement from the government and TSC, but they said we should be working because our employments were legitimate.
”We have to clarify that we were not sponsored by politicians. We have no godfathers and we believed that government should be a continuum. Why are we being treated this way? It was shocking that they said we didn’t pass through due process. Let the government absorbedus and pay all our outstanding of seven month.
“One of us lost her pregnancy, because of the shocking news. People of goodwill should intervene in this matter. We should not be sacrificed on the altar of politics, we don’t carry party cards”, Akand lammented.
The Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joshua Kolapo, and his counterpart in Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Sola Adigun, begged the government to rescind the decision and re-absorb the workers.
However, a release signed by Governor Fayemi’s Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, said the governor did not sack anyone, saying one cannot sack people not duly employed in the first place.
He said: “The recruitments were obviously mischievous because it neither followed due process nor was ever completed.
“The affected persons were not duly captured in the Civil Service Structure.