Ekiti State Governor-elect, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has warned the management of the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti, against illegal recruitment of new workers to create problems for the incoming administration.
Fayemi warned the management led by the College Provost, Prof. Mojisola Oyarekua, to resist an alleged directive to carry out massive employment of cronies of Governor Ayo Fayose in violation of due process.
A statement on Monday signed by Director, Fayemi Media Office, Wole Olujobi, wondered why an administration that has failed to employ one single individual in the last four years now want to employ thousands in the college and other institutions with few days left in office.
The statement said “it is dangerous to erect political structures in non-partisan institutions of government, warning that the incoming administration will not inherit institutions that will be threatened by political cleavages.”
The statement said: We want to caution the management of the college to stay clear of the contrived sabotage mission by Governor Ayodele Fayose to cripple the administration of the Governor-elect, Dr Kayode Fayemi, from the outset.
“There are similar plans by Fayose for other government’s agencies and institutions where he plans to dispense favours to only members of his party; we want to warn that political consideration in public recruitment scheme is illegal and will be so treated on assumption of office.
“We are aware of a long list of cronies of Governor Ayodele Fayose who are forced on the management of the College of Education and waiting to be employed in their large numbers on the orders of the governor.
“We wish to caution the management of the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti, and other institutions of government on the danger of conniving with an administration that has refused to employ just one man in about four years to now choose to embark on mass recruitment of supporters for the purpose of crippling the incoming administration at a time that Fayose’s administration is owing backlog of salaries with no hope of payment till the end of his administration.
“We hereby alert the people of Ekiti State to this clear act of sabotage which the management of the college is trying to execute on behalf of Governor Fayose to intentionally cripple the smooth running of the administration of the college when the new administration comes on board, particularly coming at the time that subvention to the college has not been paid for a long while research and capital funding has been abandoned.
“The recruitment becomes more illegal, as the beneficiaries of the exercise are mainly Fayose’s cronies who he wants to compensate after deceiving them for three years.
“We do not believe in political affiliation in the consideration of people for employment, therefore, what is going on in the College of Education is clearly a political exercise in a non-partisan setting, and to that extent, the exercise is political and, therefore, illegal because it is wrong to turn the college to the enclave of one political party.
“In the last dispensation, Fayemi engaged Ekiti people in social security scheme, Youths in Commercial Agricultural Development (YCAD), Volunteer Corps, EKSTMA and Peace Corps, among other schemes, based on merit and without consideration for political leaning.
“This is the way to go and we hope to continue on this path when we assume office to fill all necessary vacancies and create new job opportunities for all Ekiti people based on merit irrespective of political affiliation.
“We therefore advise the management of the college and other institutions of government to stay clear of the sabotage mission by Fayose and strive to ensure that the present status quo of salary payment default is resolved in favour of the hard-working workers, teaching and non-teaching staff, by paying all their salary arrears and other entitlements, including payment of subventions and capital spending, instead of embarking on political patronage in appointments that will further worsen crises for our institutions.”