5000 Civil Servants Sacked In Niger

Over 5000 Niger State government workers have been retrenched. Some of tghose retrenched were  classified as ghost workers. Their salaries and other entitlements were stopped in January 2011. Their  names were removed from the sate payroll.

Those  affected workers got to know about their predicament after they could not receive their January  salary. All the state ministries were affected. The ministries of health and judiciary have the  highest number of workers sacked.

Any of the affected workers who claims to be a bona fide employee of the state government, were  further directed to report to the office of the Head of Service,  Alhaji Umar Mateni, for screening by  a panel set up by the state government to verify their documents.

When our reporter visited the Head of Service’s office in the state secretariat on Tuesday, a crowd  had gathered there. Pandemonium broke out after the retrenced workers fought one another in order to  secure space to face the screening committee.

P.M.NEWS also discovered that the majority of the workers had spent more than 10 to 20 years in the  service.

Yusuf Abubakar a staff nurse with the state Ministry of Health says he has been in service  for 30  years and had attended various courses sponsored by the state government.

He wondered why he is now being described as a ghost worker.

“The most annoying thing is that we were not told that our names were removed  from the nominal roll  or that we won’t be paid January salary. We didn’t know until when the salary was not paid and they  told us were were ghost workers. How could that be? This is my 30 years in service,” Yusuf said.

Hajiya Ramatu Shehu, a court registrar in the state judiciary, says she has spent 10 years as a senior  staff in her ministry but complained bitterly why her name was included among ghost workers.

“I faced the committee and they asked for my appointment letter and my last promotion and I gave them  because I know I am not a ghost worker,” she said.

“Allah ya Isa,” she curse the state government.

Others shared similar experience, adding that they will fight for their rights

A source at the Head of Service office said: “the state government is willing to pay the new minimum  wage but going by the huge work force, workers must be retrenched so that the government  could  execute other developmental projects.”

According to statistics from the state government, Niger State has the highest number of civil  servants in the entire northern states. It has over 33,000 civil servants.

The report also indicated that after paying salaries and pension, only N600 million is left for  capital projects monthly.

“As such, we must review our salaries and reduce our workforce,” the report added.

In a statement sent to newsmen by the Head of Service, Alhaji Mateni, he called the affected staff and  their families to be patient with the state government as a committee has been set up to investigate  the issue.

“Once you have all your documents intact, you don’t have problem. Our aim is to fish out ghost  workers in the state,” he said.

—Aliyu Musa Minna