El-Rufai briefs Buhari on Kaduna rightsizing policy

By AbdulGafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has disclosed that he has provided a comprehensive briefing to President Muhammadu Buhari on the rightsising policy of the Kaduna State government and the steps are taken so far to implement it.

The governor said that Kaduna State will seek accountability for the NLC’s actions in the state by setting up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the events of May 2021, explaining that it is hiring over 10,000 members of staff because rightsising obliges the government to continuously recruit teachers, doctors, nurses and other qualified staff to provide vital services.

A statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Mr Muyiwa Adekeye yesterday, stated that the governor assured President Buhari that “Kaduna State government is determined not to allow a repeat of the pains, economic losses and the restraints of freedom that the NLC inflicted on the people of Kaduna State.”

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The statement said that the NLC has demonstrated that it does not even believe in equality among its own members, by describing the transfer of one KDSG employee to a place where other civil servants are serving, as victimisation.

Recalling that its representatives made it clear at the 20th May 2021 conciliation meeting that whatever they signed required the approval of the Kaduna State Executive Council, the statement stated that government  has since informed the Minister of Labour and Employment that the State Executive Council is unable to approve the MoU.”

The Special Adviser reiterated that the “Kaduna State government has not yet disengaged any state civil servant but has dispensed with the services of 99 political appointees so far.” Only the 23 local government councils and the agencies associated with the local government system such as SUBEB and the Primary Health Care Board have released staff.

Noting that “rightsizing is about getting the optimal number of persons with the requisite skills to staff the public service,” the statement added that as it is releasing lesser skilled staff, the KDSG is engaged in continuous recruitment of teachers, doctors, nurses and other health workers to provide vital services for citizens. “More than 10,000 such workers, including 7,600 secondary school teachers are being injected into the public service.”