Niger govt clamps down on civil servants over support for opposition parties[b][/b]

Suspends salaries Mass exodus continues in APC
Niger govt clamps down on civil servants over support for opposition parties

The Niger State government has begun a clampdown on civil servants in the state for their open support for opposition parties in the state even as a mass exodus of members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) continues on a daily bases.

Worst hit in this onslaught against the civil servants is those at the local government councils where staff officers have begun to compile names of those suspected to be romancing with some opposition parties in the state.

In Edati local government council, for instance, no fewer than 20 staff suspected to be romancing with the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the area have been queried and have their salaries suspended, accusing them of absconding from duty to attend political meetings.

In a letter of query/suspension of the Staff dated August 2, and signed by the Staff Officer of the council, Mallam Baba Shaba Gaba for the Director of Administration, accused the affected Staff of “engaging in partisan politics while in the service of Edati local government.”

The Staff Officer in one of the query/suspension letters to one of the affected Staff (name withheld) reads: “investigations revealed that you have absconded yourself from duty post on Thursday, 2nd of August, 2022 to attend a political meeting at PDP office in Edati.

“Consequently upon this development, you are to explain within 24 hours why disciplinary action should not be taken against you for engaging in partisan politics while in active service of Edati local government.”

The letter equally directed the suspension of all the affected staff indefinitely while their August salaries have been withheld by the council.

But according to one of the affected Staff while narrating her ordeal to our correspondent in Minna, described the allegations against herself and 19 others as “huge lies and nothing but to call a dog a bad name in other to hang it.”

She pointed out that even though she has the right and freedom of association, be it a political organisation or any other association, she did not abscond from her duty post as alleged.

In addition to this, she maintained that she has the right to be at any particular place after office hours, adding that “the purpose of my presence at any place and at any particular hour other than office hour is nobody’s business, more so that I am not a card-carrying member of any political party.”

She however warned that this victimisation of civil servants by the government will not help the APC in the state “because nobody will follow us to the polling unit on Election Day so it is just a waste of time,” she added.

Recalled that in a judgment by the Supreme Court delivered by justice Uwais in January 2018 ruled that a civil servant could be a member of a political party of their choice as provided for in the 1999 constitution.

Meanwhile, no fewer than 1,000 supporters of the ruling party in the state were said to change their loyalty to the PDP in the Munya local government area of the state, sighting imposition of candidates by the party as their reason.

This is coming barely one month after 5,000 supporters of the ruling party in Tafa local government defected to PDP in a well-attended ceremony in Sabon Wuse, the headquarters of the local government and were received by the state Chairman of the party, Barrister Tanko Beji.

The mass exodus in the party continues despite the efforts of the party gubernatorial candidate, Hon Umar Bago, to reconcile all aggrieved members of the party across the three Senatorial districts of the state.

That's rubbish na

Our evil leaders have vow that nobody shall ever be free in this country.