Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, on Wednesday sacked some workers recently employed by his predecessor, Samuel Ortom.
Gatekeepers News reports that Mr Alia’s Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula made this known in a statement on Wednesday.
The new governor also reversed the recent promotion of some directors, promoted to permanent secretaries by Mr Ortom.
“All recent appointments into the State Civil Service made by the outgone administration from May 2022 to date are hereby nullified with immediate effect.
“All Civil Servants and or persons appointed Permanent Secretaries from the month of January 2023 to date should revert to their previous positions forthwith,”
The statement also ordered workers who have retired but are yet to vacate their position or are being retained in contract appointments to retire immediately.
“Postings and transfers made in the state civil service from October 2022 to date are hereby nullified. The affected staff should revert to their former ranks, stations or offices with immediate effect.”
Mr Ortom had argued that the new workers would boost the state’s dwindling workforce.
In reaction to the development, the acting chairman of the Benue State chapter of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Isaac Mffo on Wednesday at a press conference in the state capital, Makurdi described the directive as “unlawful, insensitive and callous.”
Mr Mffo noted that the affected civil servants were given “lawful appointments into the state civil service..”
“The insensitivity in the Benue State Governor’s action becomes more glaring when viewed against the backdrop of the untold hardship which Nigerians were subjected to under the recently expired Buhari regime.”
“Governor Alia should, therefore, without delay rescinds the sack order he has issued to the thousands of civil servants in the state…” Mr Mffo appealed to the governor,” he said.
Mr Mffo reminded Mr Alia of similar last-minute appointments into the federal civil service by the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari, which President Bola Tinubu inherited.
A similar scenario occurred in 2015, James Ornguga, an APC stalwart, said Mr Ortom relieved some civil servants of their jobs after he succeeded Gabriel Suswam.
Mr Ortom had won the governorship election on the platform of the APC but later defected to the PDP before the end of his first term.
According to Mr Ornguga, “In 2014, I was the graduate representative of the SURE- P Internship Programme in Benue State.
“Gov Suswam officially absorbed all of us into the state civil service as contained in his handover report.
“Shockingly, Gov Ortom took over and sacked us.”
Mr Ornguga, the APC organising secretary in Benue, added that he and others sought redress in court, but their hopes were dashed.
Mr Alia, a Catholic priest, won the governorship election as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), defeating Mr Ortom’s preferred candidate, Titus Uba, of the (PDP).
