The management of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, December 31, 2019, has reportedly sacked over 200 workers.
Letters of termination of their appointment were handed over to the workers at the hospital after a meeting by the board of the hospital which ratified their disengagement.
Some of the workers who could not control their emotion burst into tears and wept profusely.
Meanwhile in a statement in Ado Ekiti, management of the hospital has claimed that the workers were sacked for failure to produce necessary documents while some failed to participate in the staff verification exercise held recently.
Recall on Monday, December 30, 2019 the organised labour warned the management of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) against what it called mass sack of its workforce, to avert industrial disharmony between workers and governor Kayode Fayemi-led administration.
The labour centres issued a 14-day ultimately to EKSUTH management to find a way to resolve the issues surrounding the planned sack and effect payment of all outstanding salaries, deductions and other benefits to avert withdrawal of services by staff of the institution.
The Chairmen of Trade Union Congress, Com Sola Adigun, Nigerian Labour Congress, Com. Kolapo Olatunde and Joint Negotiating Council(NJC), Com Kayode Fatomiluyi, spoke in Ado Ekiti on Monday after a closed doors meeting with the hospital’s management staff.
Adigun said rather than contemplating sack of any staff, the state government must look inwards and increase its internally generated revenues so that subvention to the health institution can be increased.
The TUC boss added that, the organised labour would resist attempt to sack workers without following public service laid down rules, saying sack was not the best option to compensate staff that had made sacrifices for effective healthcare delivery in the hospital.
“When we came for this interface, we thought it was a rumour that workers will be sacked. But we have confirmed the intending plan to sack our people here. We cannot allow our members to be working under a condition of service that is not palatable. They should not be in a hurry to sack, because this will lead to withdrawal of services.
“We have issued a 14 days ultimatum for all issues to be resolved. Sack shouldn’t be a new year package for our members, because many are still working hard despite being owed several months of salaries and deductions, even without promotions.
“We say no to any unjustifiable sack of our members. What we are experiencing is not the best. A situation whereby you brought a consultant to conduct interviews for workers and sent the names of workers you felt should be disengaged to the media for announcement is not fashionable, it is not done like this anywhere.
“Government must look inwards and increase its IGR. Nigeria Customs Service has increased its monthly revenue generations, by plugging all loopholes. There is also increment in oil supply at the international level, all these will help Ekiti economy in 2020 and sack is not the best option”, he said.
The NLC chairman, Com Olatunde and his counterpart in JNC, Com Fatomiluyi, advised that government shouldn’t perceive sack as a panacea to irregular payment of salaries.
Olatunde stated that, “Anything done contrary to the civil service rules will be resisted. Worker are responsible people and would not condone indiscipline, because EKSUTH has no good reason to sack anybody with what we heard.
“In EKSU, they employed people in 2018 and used them to get accreditation, only for them to be sacked later. They must be given fear hearing. Anything outside public service rule is not acceptable to us”.
The Chairman, Joint Health Sectors Union (JOHESU), Com. Farotimi Omotola, disagreed with the rumour that EKSUTH was over-bloated with staff, describing the hospital as grossly understaffed due to persistent brain- drain being experienced in all departments.
Newsflash247 had earlier reported that Ekiti State government on Thursday, December 5, has sacked no fewer than 900 workers of the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti.
According to report, the workers were dismissed by the institution’s management for various offences that allegedly contravene its condition of service.
The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Eddy Olanipekun who made this known while addressing newsmen in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, said the decision was taken by the institution’s Governing Council in its meeting on December 5, 2019.
Olanipekun noted that the decision was in compliance with the reports of an external private audit firm contracted to undertake a holistic audit of the institutions’ staff and finances.
This, he said, was sequel to the recommendation of the Visitation Panel set up by Governor Kayode Fayemi, which identified among other things over staffing, redundancy and personnel misalignment in virtually all the sections of the university as the problem hindering the institution to pay its workers.
Olanipekun, said of the affected staffs were 619 workers who were allegedly employed irregularly between 2016 and 2018 by the immediate past Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Samuel Oye Bandele during his tenure and 228 staff who allegedly have some discrepancies in their educational qualification.
Others included ghost workers and some staff who were said to be over ages of 65 and 70 for non-academic and academic workers respectively.
Olanipekun revealed that the university will be able to save over N200 million monthly by the time the staff are expunged on the payroll.
According to him, “619 were illegally recruited between 2016 and 2018. Some were overaged having clocked 68 or 69 but still working when the statute prescribed 65 for nonacademic and 70 for academic staff.
“The workers were employed irregularly against university regulations within the period 2016-2018 thereby causing major personnel misalignment and skyrocketing of the university wage bill by about 100% within two years.
“The situation was so bad in the university that it was the monthly contributions of members of staff who belong to some Cooperative, Thrift and Credit Societies in the University that were partly and on a monthly basis used by the then university administration to pay the salaries of those that were irregularly employed and who interestingly refused to join any of the Cooperative, Thrifts and Credit Societies.
“228 members of staff could not produce/show evidence of Primary School Leaving Certificate. And there were some ghost workers whose names were found on the university payroll without being on the university nominal role.
“Some members of staff presented falsified birth and educational certificates. Some of the members of staff lacked the required basic educational qualification.
“Some members of staff were illegally retained in the university services after having been due to retire. There are other cases of over aged staff. Some others lacked the required basic educational qualification.
“Consequently after due consideration of the issues involved, and the overall best interest of the university in being properly positioned for local relevance and global competitiveness, the Governing Council of Ekiti State University has directed that those who were found to have fallen into the categories above be disengaged of their appointments forthwith in accordance with the university regulations,” he said.
