JUST IN: Varsity sacks over 900 workers for various offences

No fewer than 900 staff of the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti were dismissed by the institution’s management for various offences that allegedly contravene its condition of service.

The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Eddy Olanipekun who made this known while addressing newsmen in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, said the decision was taken by the institution’s Governing Council in its meeting on December 5, 2019.

Olanipekun noted that the decision was in compliance with the reports of an external private audit firm contracted to undertake a holistic audit of the institutions’ staff and finances.

This, he said, was sequel to the recommendation of the Visitation Panel set up by Governor Kayode Fayemi, which identified among other things over staffing, redundancy and personnel misalignment in virtually all the sections of the university as the problem hindering the institution to pay its workers.

Olanipekun, said of the affected staffs were 619 workers who were allegedly employed irregularly between 2016 and 2018 by the immediate past Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Samuel Oye Bandele during his tenure and 228 staff who allegedly have some discrepancies in their educational qualification.

Others included ghost workers and some staff who were said to be over ages of 65 and 70 for non-academic and academic workers respectively.

Olanipekun revealed that the university will be able to save over N200 million monthly by the time the staff are expunged on the payroll.

According to him, “619 were illegally recruited between 2016 and 2018. Some were overaged having clocked 68 or 69 but still working when the statute prescribed 65 for nonacademic and 70 for academic staff.

“The workers were employed irregularly against university regulations within the period 2016-2018 thereby causing major personnel misalignment and skyrocketing of the university wage bill by about 100% within two years.

“The situation was so bad in the university that it was the monthly contributions of members of staff who belong to some Cooperative, Thrift and Credit Societies in the University that were partly and on a monthly basis used by the then university administration to pay the salaries of those that were irregularly employed and who interestingly refused to join any of the Cooperative, Thrifts and Credit Societies.

“228 members of staff could not produce/show evidence of Primary School Leaving Certificate. And there were some ghost workers whose names were found on the university payroll without being on the university nominal role.

“Some members of staff presented falsified birth and educational certificates. Some of the members of staff lacked the required basic educational qualification.

“Some members of staff were illegally retained in the university services after having been due to retire. There are other cases of over aged staff. Some others lacked the required basic educational qualification.

“Consequently after due consideration of the issues involved, and the overall best interest of the university in being properly positioned for local relevance and global competitiveness, the Governing Council of Ekiti State University has directed that those who were found to have fallen into the categories above be disengaged of their appointments forthwith in accordance with the university regulations,” he said.