Bauchi redeploys 404 judiciary workers to MDAs

The Chief Registrar of Bauchi State High Court, Emmanuel Sublim, has said the state government has approved the redeployment of 404 non-judicial trained workers to various ministries.

While addressing newsmen in his office, yesterday, Sublim said that Governor Bala Mohammed approved the deployment of 404 staff of Bauchi State High Court of Justice to other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

According to him, former Governor Mohammad Abubakar had, in 2016, mooted the idea of putting square pegs in square holes.

His words: “During the ministerial briefing at the inception of this administration, the management of the High Court of Justice brought this to the fore and His Excellency saw the wisdom behind the idea and directed the management to work on it and make recommendations to his Office.

“In the course of the exercise, it was discovered that the judiciary was staffed with petro-chemical, civil, mechanical and electrical engineers, architects, mass communication professionals, laboratory technologists, quantity surveyors, community health officers and many more.

“All of these courses have no place in the judiciary. Even the social science courses like Accounting, Public Administration, National Certificate of Education (NCE) or Bachelor in Education (B.Ed), Marketing et al have some limitations, in that most of the heads of these offices are being manned by control staff posted from either the Office of the Accountant-General, Office of the Auditor-General or Office of the Head of Civil Service.”

By implication, any person with any of the qualifications could not rise above Grade Level 14, but has the potential of rising to the position of a director or even permanent secretary in their relevant ministries, he noted.

“This is what prompted our friendly governor to immediately approve the deployment of the 404 staff now being carried out by the Office of the Head of Civil Service.

“We need to disabuse the mind of those staff affected that the redeployment has nothing to do with termination of appointment nor does it connote a demotion in any way. The public should note that we are not employing staff, as we are not in a position to do so.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Bauchi, Mohammed Salisu, has assured the affected members that it would ensure transparency and fairness in the exercise.

He said that the management has been engaging the union throughout the exercise.