Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim

The Kano state government has inaugurated a 22-member committee to verify and screen about 10, 800 workers employed towards the tail end of former governor Dr.Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s administration

KANO FOCUS reports that the Secretary State Government (SSG), Dr. Abdullahi Baffa Bichi revealed this on Wednesday during the inauguration of the committee.

He said the Committee was primarily constituted to ascertain whether the employment of the identified 10, 800 Workers followed due process.

The committee was also given power to determine those that were genuine or not competent as well advising the state government on who among them should be retained

The SSG, however stated that if the committee through their investigation, discovered that all of them were genuinely qualified, government is binding to accept them, even if it was also discovered that there is need to employed more , government will also do the needful

Equally, if the committee arrived at the conclusion that all of them, were not qualified to be employed, the state government would not hesitate to terminate the employment

He said that  “it will be recalled that the present Administration had, after its inauguration, inherited a number of challenges from the immediate past administration that currently have spillover effects on the state’s polity, which necessitated initiating measures aimed at addressing them.

He told the committee that ” Such challenges include unwarranted deductions of salaries and pensions of civil servants and pensioners respectively, non-evacuation of refuse that littered nooks and crannies of the State, abandoned healthcare and emergency services, non-supply of diesel to support the street lights in the metropolis and so on.

Dr.Bichi further added that ” Other issue, which informed our gathering here, was the last-minute employment of over 10,000 Civil Servants without following the laid down rules and regulations governing employment into the civil service.

The SSG said that the ” Government viewed this as an anomaly and, therefore, resolved to set up a committee to study and review the entire process, with a view to determining whether or not the employment process was informed by the expressed manpower need and requirement of the affected MDAS or are just based on certain primordial considerations suggesting nepotism as alleged;

“Other mandates assigned to the committee include compiling the list of the already employed staff as well as establish the financial implications on State finances and ascertaining whether budgetary provisions were adhered to.”

He charged them to ” Identity those  already enlisted into the state payroll, sequel to their recruitment cum those that are yet to receive appointment letters following the stoppage of the exercise by the present Government;

“Government expects you to use your wealth of experience to assiduously execute this assignment and submit report within two weeks from this date of inauguration.”

The SSG then stated that the committee headed by the Chairman of the state Civil Service Commission, Alhaji Umar Shehu Minjibir, was given three weeks to complete their assignment.

While responding,the Chairman of the Committee Alhaji Umar Shehu Minjibir said, “certainly, on behalf of the members of the Committee, I will like to assure you  (SSG) and through you, the state Governor, His Excellency, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf, we have accepted to serve in this Committee, and we will do our best.

“I want to assure you also that we are going to do justice to those civil servants that were employed doing the last lap of the immediate-past administration, and that we will do our assignment without fear or favor.

”I assure the SSG and the governor that we will do this assignment within the stipulated time. We are not going to disappoint you. Like I said, we will look at both sides, the government side, and the side of those civil servants who were employed by the immediate-past administration.”