THE Kaduna State Head of Service Bariatu Mohammed has said that dismissal of government workers in the state was informed by lack of required qualifications by some workers in the state’s civil service.
Bariatu said this in Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily programme on Wednesday, while reacting to claims by President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) Ayuba Wabba that the dismissal of workers in the state was not carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Labour Act.
Mohammed said Kaduna State had not declared redundancy but was verifying records of the civil servants, noting that the verification process had led to the disengagement of those who were not fit for the job.
She stated that some workers had assumed the jobs of their dead relatives even without necessary qualifications, and this would not be allowed to continue.
According to Mohammed, workers were given a two-year notice prior to this exercise to acquire at least a diploma degree, which was the least qualification required by the state. Sadly, many workers did not comply.
She further stated that there were plans to further disengage more workers who were without relevant qualifications, in an attempt to right size the civil service.
The head of service stressed that a portal was being created where people could upload their certificates if they had been wrongly dismissed on the basis of lack of qualification.
She hinted, however, that there were plans to employ new workers to fill the vacuum created by the mass dismissal.
“Right now, we have finished processes to engage 7,600 teachers of secondary schools. We have engaged health staff that are just being paid, we have done a recruitment exercise in all our tertiary institutions,” she said.
The Kaduna State government disengaged about 4,000 workers across all the local government areas in the state.
The decision sparked outrage, with the NLC threatening a withdrawal of service in protest against the mass sack of workers in Kaduna State.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.