Gov. Umara to punish 11, 865 Borno civil servants for lateness

Governor Umara Zulum of Borno state on Friday recommended punishments for 11, 865 civil servants who came to work late when the governor paid an unscheduled visit to the state secretariat.

The governor, who arrived at the Musa Usman Secretariat in company of the Head of Service, Alhaji Muhammed Hassan, also rewarded 135 civil servants for their dedication to duty.

Zulum said he met only 10 members of staff when he arrived the secretariat at 8.30 a.m. with most offices closed, noting that only 135 other civil servants came to work as at 9.40 a.m.

He directed the head of service to compile names of the affected workers, insisting that disciplinary action must be taken against them.

“Yesterday, I received the leadership of the NLC, where we had extensive consultations and they raised their concerns, among which were non-payment of salaries, pension, and gratuity to some certain categories of staff that have not been captured by the biometric verification.

“Some have complaints that they have been captured and they are yet to get their salaries while other complaints were on leave grants as well as annual increments.

“In my wisdom, l decided to visit the secretariat to determine the desirability of otherwise, of paying the civil servants. But, to my dismay only 135 civil servants were in the office. So, what justification do we have to pay the civil servants?

“I am ready to pay; l am ready to work closely with the civil servants, but there is no food for lazy people. We must enshrine discipline in our system. People must come to work and erring officials should be dealt with no matter how high placed he or she is.

“I have given directives for the payment of all salary increment, leave grants and annual increment to the 135 staff for their dedication to work.

“This administration will critically examine the request of the civil servants on one hand, but on the other hand they must also justify the confidence reposed on them,” he said.

The governor added that the government would redesign and strengthen the biometric system in order to fast track payment of all workers entitlements and benefits.

Gov. Umara said that the government was working closely with the NLC to fashion out sustainable solutions toward the payment of the N20 billion outstanding pension and gratuity arrears.

In his remarks, the state NLC Chairman, Bulama Abiso, lauded the governor for the giant steps he is taking in revitalising the civil service, declaring that “I want to reassure you, your Excellency that we are coming out in full force to make sure that civil servants live up to expectations.”