A former labour leader in Delta, Mike Okeme, has faulted the recruitment of over 70 persons in the state by the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration, describing it as illegal recruitment.
Okeme, who disclosed this on Friday in Asaba, alleged that the Delta State Civil Service Commission did not follow due process in the recruitment.
He said, “There are backyard entry into the state civil service. It has never happened in the history of civil service in the state.
“There are rules and regulation that guide the civil service, and these rules are being jettisoned. Governor Okowa should investigate this anomaly being perpetrated by the Delta State Civil Service Commission
“Former governor (Emmanuel) Uduaghan, a year to the end of his tenure, employed one thousand civil servants into the service. They were given letters and had worked for three months when this present government resumed office, and this government suspended their appointments.
“It was unjust on the part of Governor Okowa for terminating the appointment of about one thousand civil servants recruited into the state civil service towards the end of the administration of his predecessor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, to allow the civil service commission to indulge in recruitment marred with irregularities.
“We made a case, and about four hundred of them were re-absorbed. Six hundred of them are still outside today, and behind them, the Chairman of the Delta State Civil Service Commission is recruiting from nowhere. Civil Service has rules, and before any recruitment is carried out, there must be advertisement.’’
Okeme, who served as Special Adviser on Labour and SERVICOM to former Governor Uduaghan, and also to the incumbent Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, said there were laid down rules for recruitment of qualified persons, insisting that no responsible government would condone a situation where civil service rules were not adhered to by the leadership of the Delta State Civil Service Commission.
He urged Governor Okowa to investigate the alleged illegal recruitment of over 70 persons into the state civil service in the last few months.
The former labour leader hinted that barely eight months to the end of the tenure of Governor Okowa, the level of irregularities in the activities of the commission had increased.
When contacted, the Chairman of the Delta State Civil Service Commission, Dame Edith Okuwofu, did not respond despite several calls and text messages sent to her phone line.
But reacting to the allegation, State Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, said there was nothing like that.
