No fewer than 422 civil servants employed by Osun State government with alleged fake certificates may be sacked any moment from now, Tribune Online authoritatively gathered.
A copy of a letter, dated 13th September, 2019 which was signed by the state Head of Service (HoS), Dr Festus Olowogboyega obtained by our correspondent in Osogbo indicated that the decision to sack the affected workers way a fallout of a report of staff auditing conducted in 2015 by the immediate past administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
According to the letter, “the state government engaged the services of Captain Consulting firm to carry out the certificate verification of all public servants in 2015. The firm submitted its report and it was accepted and approved for implementation by the immediate past administration.”
“However, when the new administration came on board in November 2018, the leadership of the organised labour in the state passionately appealed to the government to have a rethink on the implementation of the report.”
“After much pressure from the organised labour movement, the governor approved the constitution of a 5-member committee to further examine the report and make appropriate recommendations in line with the extant public service rules and regulations. ”
“The committee, having critically examined the report of the consultant recommended that some public officers, who were earlier indicted by the report, especially those in the junior cadre be left off the hook in view of the peculiar administrative exigencies, which the governor approved.”
“Cases of some officers were reviewed and such officers were recommended for demotion, while other officers, whose cases could not be glossed over because of its grave nature on public service were recommended and subsequently approved by the state government to be relieved of their appointments to serve as a deterrent to others”.
“Consequently, agencies of government through their various boards and commissions have been directed to implement forthwith the aspects of the report as they affect their services”, the letter concluded.
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When contacted, the chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Osun State chapter, Comrade Jacob Adekomi said “the union intervened in the issue because the outcome of the firm that conducted the audit is not the true reflection of what happened, hence, it seek the new administration’s understanding to review the report.”
He stated that “the initial report alleged that about 5,000 civil servants were involved but when the report was reviewed only 422 were culpable and there case was beyond intervention due to the rules of the service.”
“We were able to intercede for them to ensure that they were not sued for criminal charges or even refund the money they earn during their stay with government. We were involved in the process from the beginning and that was the reason we insisted that the report and recommendations be reviewed”, Adekomi remarked.
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