Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State on Monday cleared the air on the reason his administration reversed the recruitment exercise and promotion made by his predecessor, Samuel Ortom.
The Catholic Priest turned governor in his state broadcast to mark the 2023 Democracy day called on the people of the state to have faith in his administration and explained that the steps taken so far were not witch hunt but to right all the wrongs made by the immediate past government.
Governor Alia said that almost 15,200 workers were brought in by the past administration in form of recruitment and replacement and submitted that the entire exercise did not follow due process.
Governor Alia said, “As we mark Democracy Day in Benue State, we owe you all explanations about the few key decisions we have taken so far. On the issue of Recruitments/ Appointments, we noted that it was full of irregularities.
“Specifically; the Civil Service Secretariat through the out-gone administration recruited Two Thousand, One Hundred and Ninety-Four (2,194) persons. The State Universal Basic Education (SUBEB) employed Three Thousand, Twenty-Eight (3,028) against the approved number of Two Thousand, Five Hundred (2,500) only while replacements made were over Five Thousand (5,000).
“Teaching Service Board (TSB) employed Two Thousand Five Hundred (2,500), that is, for Grant-in-Aid Schools, four in number, One Hundred and Twenty Teachers (120) replacements were Two Thousand, Four Hundred and Eighty-Four (2,484). In the entire exercise, due process was not adopted.
“In addition, the employment was lopsided in favour of few Local Government Areas and did not take the principle of State character into consideration; also, no budgetary provision was made to cater for the recruitments just as there was no advertisement in any media as required by the provisions of the rules guiding the Service on the matter; and no interviews were conducted to determine suitability or otherwise of candidates.
“Above all, the Solicitor-General of the State was not involved at any stage of the recruitment process.”
Also speaking on the appointment of persons to the post of Permanent Secretaries from January, 2023 to May, 2023, the governor said that the appointments were politically motivated, adding that the due process required was not observed.
He added, “The eventual postings of the appointed Permanent Secretaries were mainly for cover up, in making the appointments, the State Character Principle was not observed.”
He however assured workers and pensioners of prompt payment of salary and pension allowances, saying, ‘Indeed, as from 25th of this month, Civil Servants should start expecting alerts for their payments.
Speaking on Democracy day, Governor Alia said that the declaration of June 12 as the nation’s democracy day by former president, Muhammad Buhari was a recognition of Chief Moshood Abiola as the rightful winner of the 1993 presidential election.
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