TheCable

Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti state, says those affected by the disengagement of 2000 workers in the state, were warned not to accept the appointments Ayodele Fayose, former governor of the state, offered during the end of his tenure.

The administration of Fayemi terminated the appointment of the workers on Thursday.

In reaction, some of the people affected stormed the state secretariat complex with their appointment letters on Friday.

They appealed to the government of Fayemi to reconsider its action and reabsorb them into the civil service.

“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 were pasted at TSC,” Olawole Ganiyu, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, said.

“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.”

But speaking through Olayinka Oyebode, his chief press secretary, Fayemi said the warnings he gave them were ignored.

The governor said their recruitment did not follow due process, adding that he did not sack duly employed official in the state civil service.

“Fayemi never sacked anyone. You cannot sack people who are not duly employed in the first place,” Oyebode said in a statement.

“The so-called ‘recruitment’ carried out was obviously mischievous because it neither followed due process nor was it ever completed.

“For instance, the affected persons were not duly captured in the Civil Service Structure.  Apart from a letter of employment purportedly given them, they do not exist in the state civil service nominal payroll

“Besides, they were never captured in the state’s Biometric Payment System and never received any salary since the purported ‘appointments’ since October 2018.

“So, this means they were arbitrarily assigned to jobs after an unprofessional ‘interview’ process.

“Public notices and announcements of warning were issued to the public by the incoming administration then, that a government that had less than 45 days to leave office should not engage in a theatre of the absurd, but the affected job seekers ignored the caveat.

“A proper recruitment process will begin as soon as the Head of Service ascertains the available vacancies in the Public Service, in line with the directive of the governor. All Ekiti indigenes, including those 2,000 persons whose illegal appointments were cancelled are qualified to apply.”