BY UCHENNA UFOMADU
As part of efforts to douse the
controversy that has trailed the sack of some workers in 19 parastatals and
agencies in Imo State, the State government has blamed the opposition for over-bloating
the workforce.
It has also assured victims of its latest sack
wave in the parastatals that they may be reabsorbed.
INNONEWS.COM gathered that the
sacked workers are being told that they will regain their jobs if they are
deemed to be productive by private groups and individuals hired by the State
government to manage the 19 parastatals and agencies.
Information, Youth and Sports
Commissioner, Chidi Ibe in a statement aired by state run radio, ORIENT FM
Monday, said part of the State government agreement with the concessionaries is
that they will not recruit new persons as staff of the agencies.
“Staffers may be reabsorbed based on
performance’ he was quoted as saying.
He heaped the blame of the over-bloated workforce
in the State on the past PDP administration, accusing it of mismanaging the
civil service by making unnecessary appointments at the twilight of its tenure.
However, some of the affected workers told
this newspaper that they are not convinced with what the State government is
saying. Some of the affected workers said it is a ruse.
The State government claim of
reappointing those it sacked is coming
on the heels of another planned move to
disengage workers in the ministries.
This online newspaper had reported
last week that the State government has beamed its searchlight on sacking
workers in the ministries. A directive has been issued to this effect as the ministries
will be pruned to 150 staffers.
Meanwhile, The Campaign for Democracy
(CD) South-East Zone, has given Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo, a 14- day
ultimatum to recall over 3,000 state workers he sacked recently as well as
apologise to them.
Zonal Chairman, Mr Uzor Uzor, who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Enugu, said sacking the workers without just cause or explanation was uncivilised and undemocratic. Uzor said if the governor did not reverse the sack, CD would mobilise to lock down the state.
“We have given Gov. Okorocha as a mark of respect, 14 days to apologise to Imo workers for this embarrassment,’’ he said.
Uzor said that the governor should know that Imo was not the only state in the country facing current economic difficulties.
He decried the action of Okorocha, adding he promised to provide jobs for the youths.
He called on Okorocha to follow due process if there was need to retrench the workers.
“The excuse the governor is giving does not amount to what would lead to retrenching of workers who have put in meritorious service of between seven and 20 years.
“Gov. Okorocha rode on the mantra of rescuing Imo and creating jobs for teeming unemployed youths, but we are highly surprised that he would turn against the job creation.
“A governor who is supposed to have compassion for the people under him is now insensitive to their plight,’’ he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORT: NAN
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