Adamawa disengages ‘irregularly’ employed workers

The Adamawa State Executive Council (SEC) has approved the disengagement of workers employed by the past administration towards the close of its tenure last year.

The SEC, at its weekly meeting Wednesday, said the affected workers were employed between September 2018 and May 2019.

The SEC meeting, presided over by Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, made the decision following the approval of the White Paper report of the Committee on Regularization of Appointments and Transfer of Service in Adamawa State Civil Service from May 2015 to May 2019.

It was unclear by press time how many people are affected by the sack notice, but it is believed to include some 1,500 post-primary school teachers appointed within the given time frame.

Former Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow had, towards the end of his administration, granted waivers which led to the recruitment of workers said at a time to number about 3,000.

Fintiri had on taking over the government in May 2019, announced reversal of such appointment but did not take formal steps to actualize the reversal.

On October 3, 2019, the affected workers whose salaries were stopped and who felt there was no basis for not being paid, staged a street protest, with Deputy Governor Crowther Sett assuring them of fair treatment.

The protesting workers had been unsure at the time how many they were, with some reports quoting 6,000.

When the state Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Dr Umar Garba, addressed Government House Correspondents after the Wednesday SEC meeting, he did not specify the number of those affected by the formal staff layoff.

He merely said that the termination of appointments was informed by irregularities perpetrated in the process of the appointments and that the council advised those concerned to seek fresh employment.

“Government will give equal and fair treatments in subsequent employment to all citizens,” the government spokesman said.