GOVERNOR of Kaduna State Nasir El Rufai has sacked 19 political appointees in a bid to ‘rightsize’ the state’s public service.
This was contained in a statement signed by El Rufai’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications Muyiwa Adekeye on Wednesday in Kaduna, stating that it was the first phase of the rightsizing exercise at the executive level.
According to the statement, Deputy Chief of Legislative Staff Bala Yunusa Mohammed and two assistants to the DCOLS Halima Musa Nagogo and Umar Abubakar were among the disengaged workers.
Special Adviser (political) Ben Kure, Mustapha Lynda Nyusha, Umar Haruna and Jamilu Gwarzala Dan Mutum, who were all assistants to Kure, were sacked.
The governor also dismissed Special Adviser for Social Development Zainab Shehu and Special Assistant to Shehu Stephen, Hezron.
Some of the sacked officers also included: Senior Special Assistant for Stakeholders Relations Mohammed Bello Shuaibu, and Senior Special Assistant on Youth Aliyu Haruna.
“Also on the list are Halima Idris, special assistant, creative arts; Engr Aliyu Alhaji Salihu, director-general of public procurement authority; special assistant community relations, Ashiru Zuntu; and Saida Sa’ad, a senior special assistant,” the statement read.
Other sacked appointees were “Special assistant programmes, Elias Yahaya, and special assistant to the secretary to Kaduna state government,Tasiu Suleiman Yakaii, are on the list, [as well as] the special assistant on economic matters, Samuel Hadwayah, and Ahmed Mohammed Gero, senior special assistant environment.”
Adekeye said El-Rufai thanked the departing officials for their services to the state and wished them well in their future endeavours.
The dismissal came amidst the ongoing feud between the Kaduna State government and the National Labour Congress (NLC) over massive retrenchment of workers in the state.
Last week, the NLC embarked on five- day warning strike over the sack of thousands of workers and refusal to pay entitlements to retrenched workers in the state. It was called off three days after to allow for negotiation with the Federal Government.
El Rufai said the sacks were part of the government’s process to ‘rightsize’ the state’s civil service.
During the strike, El Rufai also ordered the dismissal of lecturers, nurses and all other workers in the state who joined the NLC warning strike.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Femi Falana had said the ‘cruel anti- workers’ policy made by the state government was responsible for the rate of insecurity in the state.
“The level of insecurity in Kaduna State today is a function of unprecedented, cruel anti-workers’ policy of the Kaduna State government, including repeated mass layoffs,” Falana said.
He argued that loss of incomes and livelihood would make people desperate for survival.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94