The departing government of Governor Godwin Obaseki has dismissed the All Progressives Congress (APC) claims that it is transforming political appointees into full-time public officials.
Recalls that Prince Kassim Afegbua, a chieftain and member of the APC transition committee, said in a statement that the outgoing Obaseki administration was transforming political appointees into full-time civil workers.
Afegbua believes that the government’s move was intended to burden the new administration of governor-elect Senator Monday Okpebholo with massive recurring expenditures, despite the fact that he (Obaseki) was aware that the state was already burdened with a massive debt load.
Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser to Governor Obaseki on Media and Projects, responded on behalf of the state government, stating that from the inception of the outgoing administration, employment in the Edo State Public Service has been centred on serving the people.
According to him:
“We are unfortunately seeing a disturbing trend from the APC even before they assume government position.
“They have started making spurious claims that the state is overburdened by debt and are now threatening that they will sack workers.
“In his recent statement, Kassim Afegbua, a member of the transition committee threatened that they are ready to cut down the number of workers engaged in Edo State because they need more money to themselves.
“This is evidently a sign of the level of thinking in the APC, where all they care about is what gets into their pocket and not what is best for Edo State.
“The comments about the government employing workers was misguided noting that Government started engaging new workers across various spectrum of governance over six years ago, a fact that can be confirmed by civil servants in the state.
“So it is disingenuous to start claiming at this last minute that the government is now just only employing new workers to set traps for the new government.”
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cc: Daily Post Ng
