We’ll kick out illegally recruited workers -Borno gov

Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri

Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has vowed to kick out workers illegally recruited into the state civil service no matter the length of time spent.

Zulum, who spoke when he received members of the state chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) at the Government House yesterday, said he was not ready to be called a nice man.

“We must be firm in doing the right thing and taking decisions as leaders. What matter is not to be nice. I am not looking for people to call me a nice man but I want to work for Borno, to make the system working. All those recruited illegally into the service must go,” he insisted.

He disclosed that the biometric capturing unit discovered fictitious names including a worker collecting pay in 21 places.

He maintained that it must stop, promising to flush out such workers from the system.  He also promised to sanitise the local government service.

He said he will not stop the payment of salaries and entitlements of workers. He said there was nothing unusual about the approval for payment of 2018 leave grants for over 9, 000 workers and gratuity to persioners and families of deceased workers.

“It is your right and not new. It is also our obligation to pay and we will continue to do that,” he said.

He said government will not go outside the recommendation of the biometric verification unit.

He said he has given the labour union a month to inform workers experiencing challenges with their pay to appeal to the committee in charge. He said government will not take any complaint after one month.

He announced plans to build houses for workers, adding that the provision will be made in the 2020 budget. He urged the civil servants to be productive as he warned that his government would not entertain laziness and redundancy.

NLC Chairman, Bulama Abiso, said the labour came to thank the governor for approving the payment of the leave grant and gratuity last Tuesday. He said the announcement came as surprise as the union was still planning to meet the governor on the matter.

Abiso said the unscheduled visits of the governor three days after his inauguration has boosted the morale of workers.

Zulum had paid an unexpected visit to the state secretariat in Maiduguri three days after his inauguration where he decried poor attendance and lack of punctuality of workers.

He also visited public hospitals in capital and subsequently suspended some medical personnel for being absent from duty.