The Ekiti State House of Assembly Service Commission on Tuesday sacked 21 members of its staff for various offences including irregular appointment, absenteeism, and other allegations that contravened the condition of service.
The Chairman of the Commission, Honourable Taiwo Olatunbosun who declared this in a statement in Ado-Ekiti, said the decision was taken in compliance with the report of staff audit undertaken as part of the efforts to reorganize the commission for effective service delivery.
He added that the audit, which started last year on an assumption of office of the present Commission members engaged the services of auditors over complaints, agitations and petitions from members of staff on allegations of absenteeism, arbitrary promotion and placement of officers above colleagues without regards to the scheme of service.
“The audit which discovered some irregularities ranging from hiding, alteration and mutilation of files, the advancement of staffs without due process, appointees illegally retained in the system after expiration of tenure, arbitrary transfer of service without cognate experience, overage staff members, irregular appointments/promotion of staff without approval, cases of forgeries, arbitrary placement of officers with utter disregard to the scheme of service, etc.
“The outcome of the report has since been discussed with the management staff of the Commission and the leadership of the state chapter of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN).
“The Commission wishes to stress that the routine staff audit was carried out in good faith without any intention of vendetta, witch-hunt or victimization against anyone.
“It is equally important to note that the exercise will assist the Commission to restructure, reposition and bridge the generational gap in the establishment”.
Consequently, the 21 workers that were dismissed protested against the State House of Assembly over their “unjust dismissal” from the service of the House.
The protest which was led by labour leaders, held within the premises of the Assembly complex, where they chanted series of derisive songs to castigate the Ekiti State Assembly Service Commission over the sack.
Addressing the dismissed workers, the Secretary of the Ekiti State Joint Negotiating Council, Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo, said it was wrong for the Commission to have speedily sent the names of the affected workers to Accountant General to stop their salaries, while negotiation lasted.
He said: “We are here to express our rejection of the summary dismissal of these 21 staff of the House of Assembly. Though the Commission denied ever sacking anyone, which was not true.
“We learnt from good authority that they have forwarded their names to the Accountant General to stop their salaries while also denied access to the Assembly complex despite being employed and put on the payroll for 10 years.
“We are not saying the Commission cannot Audit its staff, but it has to be with a human face. We are going to fight to the end. We are not afraid of victimisation. All the workers in the civil service will join them in solidarity. We are building careers here and we won’t allow any politician to destroy us”.
Also Speaking, secretary of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Lawrence Kuloogun and that of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Taiwo Akinyemi, said the dismissal of those workers was not only inhuman but embarrassing to the workforce.
They said: “This is an injustice, harassment and embarrassment of our workers. In Ekiti State University, we buried scores of our workers. The same happened at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital. This was because of a sack, but here in the Assembly, we are not ready to bury anybody.
“The Commission must reverse to status quo. They should not distribute any letter anymore and they must retrieve the ones already served for our workers to live good and worthy lives,” Olowoyo said.
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