Nasir El-Rufai
According to him, Kaduna is 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 Governor assured President Buhari of the state government’s determination not to allow a repeat of the pains, economic losses and the restraints of freedom that the NLC inflicted on the people of Kaduna State..
Recalling the reconciliation meeting between Kaduna state government officials and the NLC held in Abuja on May 20th, El-Rufai explains that the state Executive council has already communicated to the minister of Labour that it cannot approve the agreements reached at the meeting between the state government and the NLC pertaining its rightsizing policy.
Alluding to the NLC’s renewed threat of strike action, the statement said that the NLC has demonstrated that it does not even believe in equality among its own members by describing the transfer of one Kaduna state employee to a place where other civil servants are serving as victimisation.
“It is trite that an MoU 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 amongst its own members.
“KDSG employees are serving with dedication in Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area, amidst all the challenges. 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 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.
“There are procedures that need to be followed to make a strike action legal, and the kind of conduct permissible during legitimate strike action is also bound by law. Lawful strike action 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 reiterates that “Kaduna State Government has not yet disengaged any state civil servant but has dispensed with the services of 99 political appointees so far.” Only the 23 local government councils and the agencies associated with the local government system such as SUBEB and the Primary Health Care Board have released staff.
Noting that “rightsizing is about getting the optimal number of persons with the requisite skills to staff the public service,” the statement added that as it is releasing lesser skilled staff, the KDSG is engaged in continuous recruitment of teachers, doctors, nurses and other health workers to provide vital services for citizens. “More than 10,000 such workers, including 7,600 secondary school teachers are being injected into the public service.”
The statement appealed “for the continued patience and understanding of all citizens as steps are being taken for the fair conclusion of this exercise.”
