The Kano State government has officially terminated the employment of 3,234 individuals who were deemed ineligible for civil service positions. The announcement was made by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Abdullahi Baffa Bichi, during a press briefing on Friday.
The decision to terminate these employments was based on the government’s commitment to enforce the findings of a committee responsible for screening and verifying employment, initiated by the previous administration. The SSG clarified that the state government, in tandem with the committee’s recommendations, has reinstated a total of 9,332 staff across 51 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) who were found eligible.
According to Bichi, the verification committee’s report highlighted various irregularities in the employment process. He stated, “Most of those employed did not undergo processes of screening and recruitment interviews as expected by the service regulations; employed were found to have suspicious or forged certificates, while many non-indigenes were employed in spite of a large number of qualified unemployed indigenes roaming.”
The SSG also pointed out that the employment did not align with the actual manpower needs of the respective MDAs. He mentioned that the hiring process appeared influenced by a desire to burden the new administration financially.
The committee, due to the significant number of those employed, divided into three panels to handle the screening of the 12,566 individuals, as opposed to the initially reported 10,800.
Bichi outlined the next steps, stating, “Those found with offers of appointments but not on the payroll should be subjected to further interviews by relevant recruitment centers in the service. Proper placement and posting, deployment of eligible staff to relevant MDAs for optimal utilization should be undertaken, while in the case of those employed into the lower cadre without any regard to their qualifications, they should be properly placed depending on need and availability of vacancy.”
This decision follows the Kano State government’s earlier directive, at the beginning of the current administration, to suspend the salaries of certain civil servants. The government justified this move by citing the last administration’s seemingly hasty mass employment without adhering to necessary guidelines and service regulations.
