The Kaduna State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Saturday, said it vehemently condemned the illegal mass sack/retirement of the 2,118 Local Government staff and over 1,600 Primary Health Centres, by governor Nasir Elrufai, the Governor of Kaduna State.
This was contained in a statement issued on Saturday by Abraham Alberah Catoh, State Publicity Secretary of the party
He said, “the action by the governor is outrightly unlawful, callous and smacks of the insensitivity of the APC government to the plight of the good people of the state.
“It is disheartening that a government which asserts itself as a believer of the rule of law, however, never hesitate to break the same law in pursuit of its unscrupulous policies.
“Decisions of this nature by the administration since assumption of office has been responsible for the heightened insecurity and poverty which has become so pervasive in the State, to the extent that the slogan ‘Centre of Learning’ which Kaduna State is known for is now referred to as the “kidnapping hub of the Nation.
“This, and several other actions of the governor leaves all and sundry, without any iota of doubt, that indeed the Elrufai/APC led government, just as it is at the Federal level, lacks human face and is a conglomeration of family and friends that lacks empathy and compassion in governance.
“Any administration that thrives on cruel policies and programmes is obviously anti-people and merciless, which negates the objective of good governance.
“Going down memory lane, it is on record that Kaduna State has recorded the most unprecedented highest number of, not only, retrenched or dismissed workers, but sadly too, whose benefits and gratuities have been denied for years.”
Katoh added that, ” the action of Governor El-Rufai clearly leaves no one in doubt that the governance style of Nasir Elrufai led APC government is more about fostering physical, psychological and emotional hardship on the citizenry.
“With an empirical record of over 100,000 unlawfully retired or summarily dismissed workers as at today, and still counting, multiplied by an average of 10 dependants per household, so affected by Elrufai’s actions thus, summing up to cover about a million people.
“This, coupled with the demolition of houses and small businesses owned by the downtrodden masses, has caused so much havoc to the small and medium scale enterprises to the point that one can conclusively say that the government doesn’t want their presence in the State rather, it wants to foist a capitalist driven economy on the citizenry, further making life unbearable and brutish for the common man.
“The impact of the insecurity in the State, apart from denying the largely agrarian population from accessing their farmlands, as well as fear of being kidnapped, which in the past used to largely be in the villages and outskirts, however, is far becoming a common everyday occurrence, even within the city centres.
“It is even more worrisome that the lackadaisical attitude of the governor of the State in not showing empathy to the families affected by the various acts of
kidnapping, banditry and even those who suffer fatalities leaves much to be desired.
“The grandstanding attitude of the governor and his officials/aides gives them away that they did not really earned the votes of the people, otherwise, the citizenry of Kaduna State will not have been treated with so much disdain.
“It has now become a norm in the state that workers’ salaries are inconsistent on a monthly basis same too with even the payment of the salaries.
“As at today, the civil servants in the State don’t know their monthly net take home pay. The average civil servant in Kaduna State do not enjoy security of his contracted tenure as scheduled in the civil service rules.”
