Civil servants whose appointments were terminated by the Ekiti State government on Wednesday have staged a peaceful protest to appeal to the state governor, Kayode Fayemi to rescind his decision to relieve them.
The protesters were the 568 primary and secondary school teachers employed by Governor Ayodele Fayose among the 2,000 employed 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, Muyiwa Olumilua, 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. Olawole 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.
He said, “During the Fayose-led government, we were at home when vacancies were advertised. We paid N1000 to buy forms. We wrote examinations and sat for interview. Scores of the examinations were pasted at TSC.
“Later, qualified people sat for interview and letters of appointments and posting were given to successful people. 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.”
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 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.
“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.”
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. Apart from a letter of “employment, they do not exist in the State Civil Service Nominal Roll.
“They were never captured in the State’s Biometric payment system and never received any salary since the purported ‘appointments’.”
