Barely two months to the end of his tenure, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, is set to recruit 1000 teachers and another 1000 workers of different categories into the state’s civil service.
The move is currently creating angst within the camp of the governor–elect, Kayode Fayemi, who has rejected the move and called on the citizens to be wary of such employment.
But Mr Fayose has argued that the recruitment was in keeping with his promise to the people of Ekiti State.
A statement on Friday by the governor’s Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said the final process of the recruitment exercise had commenced.
“In addition to the forms already obtained free of charge by the applicants, forms are now available at the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Civil Service Commission, Ministry of Health and other relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies,” he said.
“Forms for applicants seeking employment into the junior cadres of the public service are available at N500 each while those for the senior cadres are N1,000 each till August 24, 2018.”
Mr Olayinka berated Mr Fayemi and his party, APC, for criticising the recruitment exercise.
“With less than two weeks to the end of his tenure in 2014, Fayemi appointed eight permanent secretaries and they are still in office up till now,” Mr Olayinka recalled.
“He also recruited several workers behind closed doors and they are still in the service.”
He stated that Mr Fayemi should wait till October 16 when he would be sworn in governor, rather than acting as an “alternate government.”
“It is on record that Governor Fayose announced in January this year that recruitment will be made into the state public service and this was followed up with distribution of employment forms in May,” Mr Olayinka further said.
“This was consequent upon the existing vacancies in the public service, especially the teaching sector. There are schools without adequate teachers in critical subjects like Mathematics, Physics, English and others. So the students that are resuming in September should wait till Fayemi assumes office?
“Most importantly, Fayose will carry out all the functions of his office till October 16 and since there is need to employ workers, the government will do so through a transparent process.
“Isn’t it funny that the same APC people that criticised the government for constructing a modern Oja Oba Market in Ado Ekiti are now kicking against allocation of the shops to the people? So Governor Fayose should build the market for Fayemi to come and allocate the shops to his cronies?
“The APC in Ekiti State should therefore be reminded that there is still a government in the State and that government will not change until October 16, 2018.”
Earlier, Mr Fayemi had described the last minute move by the outgoing administration of Governor Fayose to recruit the workers as a deliberate effort to put obstacles in the way of the in-coming administration.
A statement by the Director of Media and Publicity in the Office of the governor-elect, Wole Olujobi, berated Mr Fayose for embarking on a last minute mass recruitment to allegedly deceive the unsuspecting victims and set a booby-trap for the incoming administration.
He said Mr Fayose was playing on the intelligence of the people to paint a picture of a man of the masses in clear infraction on the law.
“It is a grand deception and sheer wickedness for a governor that has refused to pay workers and pensioners for between six and 10 months to now turn around to recruit about 2,000 workers in a selective manner to favour his supporters only,” said Mr Olujobi.
He also described the governor’s planned recruitment as an act of desperation by a governor who never cared for the people but would always take advantage of them in a most dehumanising manner.
“Once again, we call on Ekiti people as we did in our recent press release to be wary of Fayose’s last minute illegal deals, transactions and mass recruitment which do not follow due process,” he added.
“Any transaction so done shall be reviewed by the incoming administration.”
