The Kogi Government said on Tuesday that the recent sack of 60 members of staff of the State Science, Technology and Technical Education Board (STTEB) was part of the on-going cleansing exercise.
Acting Executive Secretary of the board, Mr Joseph Okenyi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lokoja that irregularities were discovered in their employment and promotion.
He explained that the 60 people sacked were not properly employed, while the 26 demoted were also not properly promoted.
According to him, the administration of Governor. Idris Wada is committed to transparency, accountability and good governance.
The affected workers, he said, were brought in through the activities of an employment racket within the board, adding that their employment was not legal.
The secretary said that he would strictly adhere to the state Head of Service’s (HOS) directive to bring every management staff involved in the employment scam to book.
“Every hand must be on deck to uplift the standard of education in the state and if the cleansing starts from STTEB, at least, it has started from somewhere,” he said.
He commended the state Auditor-General for a job well done; adding that any staff victimised and had genuine case would be investigated and recalled.
Okenyi said that some of the affected members of staff were actually students who were given back-dated appointment letters while still in school.
He said that the 26 people demoted were discovered to have been wrongly placed above their commensurate Grade Levels.
According to him, most of them are not qualified for the positions they were occupying. (NAN)
