The Ekiti State Government has denied rumors making the rounds that plans were underway to sack civil servants, saying the news was being peddled on social media by the opposition, All Progressives Congress.
In a statement on Thursday in Ado-Ekiti by the Special Assistant, Public Communication and New Media to Governor Ayodele Fayose, Lere Olayinka, the state government stated that the current exercise of trimming down the number of ministries in the state was not an indication that the workforce would be downsized.
The statement said, “Workers in the state have nothing to fear, the ongoing exercise of trimming the number of ministries is not an indication that workers are going to be sacked.
“The exercise is intended to make the workers more effective and efficient. Workers will be deployed in a way to get the best out of them.
“The only set of workers that have issues to clarify are those that were employed without due process after the APC lost the June 21 governorship election.
“The proposal before the State Governor, Dr Ayodele Fayose, is the reduction of the number of ministries and parastatals to reduce cost of running the government, so as to be able provide more basic amenities for the people.
“The planned reduction of ministries and parastatals is still at the level of proposal that is yet to be considered by the governor.
“It is also important to point out that there is no plan to turn the State Universal Basic Education Board to an agency under the Governor’s Office as being peddled.
“SUBEB is a creation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and its funds come directly from the Universal Basic Education Commission, a Federal Government agency. No governor can scrap it”, the statement added.
