Ripples Over Dickson’s Alleged Secret Employments In Bayelsa

The alleged secret employment of over 7,000 civil servants at the eleventh hour of the Seriake Dickson led Restoration Government in Bayelsa state has sparked controversy in the state.
Shortly after the declaration of Chief David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC), winner of the 2019 governorship election in the state, the reports of secret employments began to filter into the public space.
It was learnt that indiscriminate issuance of appointment letters to preferred individuals has become the order of the day in all the ministries, as well as at the local government level.
It was gathered that some of the appointment letters were back-dated by top officials in the state and local governments civil service to cover up holes through which fraudulent acts were being perpetrated in the system knowing that a new government was about to come in.
Some civil servants who are not comfortable with the development told TNN that if not properly handled, the situation may spell financial doom for the incoming government
A level-12 civil servant who feared to be named in print described the development as a “deliberate act by the outgoing government to cause a financially catastrophic take-off situation for the incoming government.
“How can a government that is leaving office in a matter of days be embarking on secret employment of civil servants without due process? Do they want to crash the civil service system for the incoming government?”
Also speaking, an economic analyst, who equally preferred anonymity said “those employments, if true, would not stand. As soon as the incoming government assumes office, they should review them so as not to give the new administration unnecessary financial burden.”
He however exonerated the state governor from being culpable of the last minute employments reportedly taking place in the state civil service.
His words: “Most of these illegal employments that often occur when a government’s tenure is winding up are perpetrated by very senior civil servants who are used to defrauding the system for their selfish gains.
“We have seen a situation where employment letters are issued to employees today but the appointment date is reading five years ago.
“The incoming government should be wise to be able to understand who was employed, when and how. If the incoming government is not careful enough with the already fraudulently over bloated civil service, the implementation of the new minimum wage becomes a case.”
Efforts to reach the chairman of the Bayelsa State Civil Service Commission, Dr. Peter Singabele did not yield positive results as several calls put through to his phone for comments on the issue were neither picked nor returned.
He also did not reply to a Short Message Service (SMS) sent to his mobile phone by our correspondent as at the time of filing this report.
It could be recalled that the outgoing Peoples Democratic Party administration under Dickson genuinely employed 1,000 graduates into the state civil service in 2019.