We are not after anyone – Govt
Some of the permanent secretaries, who were relieved of their duties by the Kano State government in May 2019, have been demoted to the position of Director, Daily Trust on Sunday gathered. It would be recalled that in May, all the permanent secretaries were relieved of their duties. Subsequently, the state government inaugurated 36 new permanent secretaries, including some of those who were initially relieved of their appointments.
It was further gathered that the affected ex-permanent secretaries were asked to go on compulsory retirement on a Director position.
According to one of the affected permanent secretaries, who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday on condition of anonymity, the word, ‘relieved’ used by the Head of Service in his circular ‘‘is new to civil service rules and an affront to Section 208 of the 1999 Constitution as amended which only talks about appointment and removal by a governor’’, adding that the exercise embarked upon by the state government ‘’was an act of vendetta on innocent souls’’.
“We were asked to reapply; in case anybody was interested, while some of us did, some did not, hoping to go on retirement as permanent secretaries peacefully. However, 12 were reappointed and 13 were dropped and out of the 13, eight were retired as permanent secretaries while five were demoted and compulsorily retired as directors with no explanation’’, he said.
Another affected permanent secretary told our correspondent that the entire exercise by the state government contradicts the Civil Service provisions, alleging that they were victimized based on ‘‘mere allegations’’. He also alleged that they were not given fair hearing and that they were deprived of three months’ salaries.
“What we are saying is that we need justice to be done. Let us be told our offences; if any, and also we should be given fair hearing. We are not at war with anybody, rather we are law abiding citizens who spent the greater part of our lives serving the state. We believe we deserve more than what we are getting now,” he said.
However, when contacted on the issue, the Kano State Head of Service, Dr. Kabiru Shehu, said there was nothing like vendetta as alleged by the relieved permanent secretaries. According to him, the exercise was in light of the current Kano State government administration’s efforts to reposition the state civil service scheme. He noted that all permanent secretaries in the state were relieved of their positions and new ones were appointed, including those who reapplied and were found fit to continue. He further stated that some others applied to be retired and government approved their requests.