….It is a Greek Gesture…HLAs
Desperate to win the gubernatorial election on Saturday, Oyo State governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, on Friday directed all the local government councils in the state to forward the lists of all ad-hoc workers in the state for immediate employment.
According to a government source, the calculation by the governor is that the emergency employment of the temporary workers would enhance his votes in the governorship election.
It was also learnt that there are about 100 of such workers in each of the 33 local government councils in the state.
However, the source noted that some of the workers in the local governments have expressed fear that such a move would bring up the state’s workers’ wage bill, adding that could also be a landmine for a new governor, if the incumbent fails to clinch re-election.
“Yes, the directive has gone to all the 33 local governments of the state. It is understood that the strategy is to use this emergency employment to boost the chances of the incumbent governor in Saturday election.
“Not less than 100 ad-hoc staff had been working in each of the local governments. The governor did not deem it fit to direct the local governments to make them permanent staff before now.
“But the fear of many workers at the local government level is that such a development would shore up the wage bill of the state, a development that might necessitate government seeking for more loans.
“Besides, if the incumbent fails to clinch re-election, it will appear as additional burden or even landmine for whoever becomes the new governor,” the source said.
