Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, announced that his administration has employed 250 graduates into the state civil service, 400 health workers, and completed the employment of over 2,000 primary school teachers in the state. He made the statement in Minna on the occasion of the 2023 Workers’ Day.
Governor Bello noted that although he is leaving office in a couple of days, he is still concerned with the huge wage bill of the state which has remained static, as well as the lingering anomalies in the civil service over the years. He also urged civil servants to be sincere with themselves and support the incoming government in addressing ugly trends that have continued to bring setbacks within the system.
Despite criticism from some quarters, including the APC stalwart and patron of its presidential campaign council in the State, Alh. Awaisu Giwa Wana, who recently warned Bello to suspend last-minute appointments and massive employment into the civil service, the governor insisted that the administration is currently concluding the employment of more workers into the state civil service.
Governor Bello commended the state workforce for serving as a catalyst in the formulation and implementation of government policies and programmes, as well as for sustaining good governance in the state. He also disclosed that his administration had laid emphasis on capacity development through training and retraining of workers to reposition the service for greater performance and efficient service delivery.
The Governor assured the new NLC leadership in the state of his administration’s commitment to partner with them to systematically tackle most of the challenges of civil servants in the state while congratulating workers on the occasion. Finally, he thanked the organized labour for their support during the recent general elections which contributed immensely to the success of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).