Edo State Governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo has raised the alarm over alleged conversion of political appointees to full time civil servants by the outgoing governor, Godwin Obaseki, six days to the end of his tenure.Prince Kassim Afegbua, member, All Progressives Congress, APC, transition committee made the allegation in a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Benin City.Afegbua alleged that the political appointees that are being converted to full time civil servants are Senior Special Assistants and Special Assistants.He said 186 of such appointees were appointed by the governor in September 2024, thereby bloating the numbers of aides around him.He also alleged that the outgoing governor has just commenced the process of absorbing another 152 aides to compound the problem.The APC transition committee member, said interview is presently ongoing as part of the governor’s effort to overburden the incoming administration with huge recurrent expenditure, when he (Obaseki) was aware that the state is already bugged down by a huge debt burden.“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.“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,” the statement said.Afegbua opined that recruitment into Civil Service must not only follow due process, there has to be a need for such persons who are so recruited.
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