By: Ike Philip Abiagom
With a better and clearer understanding of the reason for the ongoing screening of civil servants in Delta State and the overwhelming evidence of age falsification by some of those already screened, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Delta State Council, has thrown its weight behind the fact finding mission.
Rising from a meeting convened by the Senior Policy Adviser to the Governor, Rt. Hon. Chief Funkekeme Solomon, on behalf of his boss, to resolve the misconception about the screening in some quarters, the State Chairman of the NLC, Comrade Goodluck Ofobruku, pledged cooperation with the Roseline Amioku-led Committee.
Comrade Ofobruku, who led the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the various labour groups to the meeting, expressed confidence in the assignment of the Screening Committee, urging it not to relent.
He said the earlier impression created by some of the affected workers was that the exercise was a witch-hunt, but with the explanations offered by the Committee and the clear evidence of falsified records, the NLC could not but allow the screening to continue unhindered.
The NLC helmsman said: “We will not disrupt the work of the Committee. What has happened today is in line with stakeholders’ engagement as encapsulation in Governor Oborevwori’s MORE Agenda”.
Chairman of the State Civil Service Commission, Lady Roseline Amioku, who chairs the Screening Committee, highlighted the parameters the Committee used in carrying out the assignment.
Lady Amioku revealed that the Committee had been thorough with its investigation, which she noted was not a witch-hunt as organized labour was initially made to believe, pointing out that the outcomes so far had been shocking and unfortunate.
The convener, Rt. Hon Funkekeme Solomon, said Governor Sheriff Oborevwori gave him the mandate to mediate with a view to addressing the misconception surrounding the verification exercise targeted at smoking out civil servants reasonably believed to be over the statutory 60 years retirement age or still working after 35 years in service.
“Beyond understanding the truth that some civil servants lied about their age, I urge the leadership of NLC to continue on the path of openness. NLC should sensitise their members on the need to play by the rules and eschew the tendency to fraudulently alter their service records”, Solomon said.
