Labour: Sack of Kaduna Civil Servants stays, says Governor

*The content of the MoU  (between the state and Nigeria Labour Congress) shows that there is no congruence between the progressive aspirations of the Kaduna State Government and the misguided sense of entitlement of the NLC ─Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

Though the State Government has appealed for ‘continued patience and understanding of all citizens’ as the exercise continues, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State of Nigeria says he has provided a comprehensive briefing to President Muhammadu Buhari on how his state has implemented the rightsizing policy thus far.

The governor said that Kaduna State would seek accountability for the actions of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state by setting up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the NLC strike and protest by the workers May 2021.

NLC President and workers during a recent protest against the government’s sack of Civil Servants in Kaduna  Photo: File

Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye, Special Adviser on Media and Communication, in a statement issued Sunday, June 27, said Governor El-Rufai explained that the Kaduna State Government (KDSG) is also hiring over 10,000 staff because rightsizing obliges the government to continuous recruitment of teachers, doctors, nurses, and other qualified staff to provide vital services.

The statement said the governor, however, has assured President Buhari that Kaduna State Government is determined to not allow a repeat of the “pains, economic losses, and the restraints of freedom that the NLC inflicted on the people of the state.”

Recall that the Kaduna State Governor at a reconciliation meeting between the state government officials and the NLC May 20 in Abuja, FCT, noted that the State Executive Council had already communicated its position to the Minister for Labour and Employment.

It stated that it could not approve the agreements reached at the meeting between the state government and the NLC in respect of the Kaduna State rightsizing policy.

With the announced NLC threat of fresh strike, the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Communication said that the NLC has demonstrated that it does not even believe in equality among its own members by describing the transfer of a Kaduna State employee to a place where other civil servants are serving as victimisation.

The statement further said: “It is trite that an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) is not a legally-binding document.

“The content of the MoU shows that there is no congruence between the progressive aspirations of the Kaduna State Government and the misguided sense of entitlement of the NLC which does not even believe in equality among its own members.

“KDSG employees are serving with dedication in Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area, amidst all the challenges.”

The statement also noted: “Yet, the NLC describes the transfer of one KDSG employee to Birnin-Gwari LGA as victimisation, as if other staff who have been loyally serving in the same area are lesser humans or permanent victims.

“KDSG rejects this unfair denigration of the very people that the transferred employee claims to lead.”

KDSG stated that “it is improper to describe the routine application of public service rules and labour regulations by a government as victimisation” and asked the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment to reconsider permitting such slurs in documents prepared under its auspices.

“Union membership or accession to a leadership position in a union does not grant immunity to an employee for his/her actions and conduct or exempt them from compliance with the laws that govern everyone else.”

According to the Kaduna State Government, “there are procedures that need to be followed to make a strike action (sic) legal, and the kind of conduct permissible during legitimate strike action is also bound by law.

“Lawful strike action (sic) still subjects strikers to the no-work, no-pay rule.

“How then can unlawful strike action be expected to be without consequences, as spelt out in the relevant laws and regulations?”

The statement further explained that the state government’s commitment to fair assessment of the credentials of all officers shows in the painstaking approach to the rightsizing exercise for state civil servants.

Only after the completion of the verification process that KDSG will “release any civil servant that is confirmed not to possess the minimum qualifications prescribed in 2017 as one of the outcomes of the state’s Public Service Revitalisation and Renewal Programme,’’ the state said.

The government, therefore, appealed “for the continued patience and understanding of all citizens as steps are being taken for the fair conclusion of this exercise,” the statement noted.

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