By: John Bassey, Gusau.
The Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress APC has condemned with strong terms, the wanton victimization of civil servants, accusing Governor Dauda Lawal of arbitrary and deliberate sacking of workers and advocating equal welfare for all regarding the threats of insecurity in the state.
This was disclosed in a statement issued today by Comrade Yusuf Idris Gusau APC Publicity secretary to journalists in Gusau the state capital.
The statement read, for the sake of immediate reference, people of the state woke up to the disturbing demonstration of over 3000 workers who went through recent verification exercise on the state civil servants without any dent but were asked to stay at home with their services no longer needed.
The affected persons who have spent between 10 to over 20 years in dedicated service with a large number of dependants are suspected to be sympathetic to political parties other than the ruling PDP in the state have been turned to beggars overnight and have been wallowing in poverty and hunger without salary for about 10 months now which is so unbearable.
So these people who are not the only victims of the state administration have turned out in their large numbers to seek spiritual intervention from the All Mighty by praying at the Gusau Eid praying ground with supplications in the Holy Qur’an.
Comparatively, during the immediate past APC administration under the current Minister of State for Defence, Dr Bello Mohammed Matawalle, apart from giving employment to 1400 persons waiting for regularization, employed over 9,000 persons including political appointees into the state workforce in addition to 336 teachers and 200 nurses and midwives with meagre resources when monthly federal allocation was only about N3 billion but the government was determined to boost social security.
However, today’s Zamfara State government under Governor Dauda Lawal and the PDP collects between N19 billion to N30 billion monthly as federal allocation in addition to its acclaimed N2 billion monthly as locally generated revenue only uses the money to jolly away life with family and friends while sacking workers to save more money for their jamboree.
We are calling on the state government especially Governor Dauda Lawal to immediately reinstate the affected victimised civil servants to save the state from an already escalating insecurity situation as they too, as citizens, have equal rights in the resources of the state.