Francis Ogbuagu 
The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress ( APC) has accused the outgoing governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki of converting his Senior Special Assistants and Special Assistants into full-time civil service staff in last-minute appointments.
The move is seen as an attempt to overburden the incoming administration with recurrent expenditures.
A statement issued by Kassim Afegbua, a member of the APC Transition Committee said that Obaseki made 186 appointments in September and has commenced the process of absorbing another 152 aides.
Afegbua said the move is a deliberate effort to stifle the resources of the state and pass on huge salaries and overhead to the incoming administration of Senator Monday Okpebholo
“It has come to our notice that Governor Obaseki is presently converting his Senior Special Assistants (SSA) and Special Assistants (SA) into full-time civil service staff.
“He added 186 of such appointees in September this year to the already bloated number of aides around him and has just commenced the process of absorbing another 152 aides to compound the problem.
“The interview is presently ongoing as part of an effort to overburden the incoming administration with huge recurrent expenditure, aware that the state is already bugged down by a huge debt burden.
” Governor Obaseki, for eight years refused to recruit civil servants to fill up vacant positions and energize the civil service.
“He also refused to set up the Civil Service Commission until two weeks ago, in the twilight of his failed administration.
“We are alerting the public to be aware of Governor Obaseki’s deliberate engagement to stifle the resources of the state and pass on huge salaries and overhead to the incoming administration.
“This is not only a wicked act but a huge disservice to the incoming administration of Senator Monday Okpebholo.
“We have repeatedly stated the position of the incoming administration that anybody who is wrongly recruited or surreptitiously absorbed into the Civil Service, with backdated appointment letters would be relieved of his or her responsibility.
” Recruitment into Civil Service must not only follow due process, there has to be a NEED for such persons who are so recruited. ”
Afegbua also warned those who may benefit from the alleged last-minute appointments to be cautious.
“This is to forewarn those who may fall into this deceit to be wary of Governor Obaseki’s dubious intentions”
Reacting, the Edo State Government said that employment in the Edo State Public Service since the outset of the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration has focused on serving the people.
A statement from Special Adviser on Media Projects, Crusoe Osage, chided the All Progressives Congress, APC, for insinuating that the government was overburdening the government by employing more workers in recent weeks.
According to him, “We are unfortunately seeing a disturbing trend from the APC even before they assume government position.
“They have started making spurious claims that the state is overburdened by debt and are now threatening that they will sack workers.
“In his recent statement, Kassim Afegbua, a member of the transition committee threatened that they are ready to cut down the number of workers engaged in Edo State because they need more money for themselves.
“This is evidently a sign of the level of thinking in the APC, where all they care about is what gets into their pocket and not what is best for Edo State.”
He added that the comments about the government employing workers were misguided noting that the Government started engaging new workers across various spectrums of governance over 6 years ago.
“So it is disingenuous to start claiming at this last minute that the government is now just only employing new workers to set traps for the new government,” Osagie said.
