Sacking of 28,000 workers: APC lied again, says Bayelsa Govt.

The Bayelsa State Government has debunked claim by the All Progressives Congress led by Chief Timipre Silva that the government has sacked 28,000 workers as a fallout of the on-going reforms.

The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said in a statement yesterday that the claim made by the Chairman, Jonathan Amos, only confirmed the APC in the state as a party that thrives on lies and fraud.

Jonathan had lampooned the state government for sacking 28, 000 workers from the state civil service in the on going reform. He spoke while the party was receiving the Commissioner for Youth Development, Ibarakumo Otobo, who resigned his assignment as cabinet member of the Gov. Dickson led Peoples Democratic Party (APC) to join the APC

Speaking in a statement made available to The Guardian yesterday, Iworiso-Markson said that Jonathan and his faction of the APC only made a failed attempt to discredit the well intentioned and generally received public sector reforms in Bayelsa.

He said that media reports quoting the factional APC Chairman as having described his imagined sack of 28,000 workers as regrettable only shows that he and his misled followers are not abreast of developments in Bayelsa.

The Commissioner said that it was not exactly unexpected for Diaspora and seasonal politicians to display crass ignorance and cling onto anything including lies to seek political relevance.

The Commissioner stressed that the blackmail from the APC was an indication of corruption fighting the reforms designed to free Bayelsa from the greedy talons of payroll vultures.

He added that any politician attempting to attack the reforms and the removal of fictitious names from the payroll was an enemy of Bayelsa and her people.

He stated that that only those who do not mean well for the state and the unemployed graduates in Bayelsa would fault the genuine intention of the government to rid the public service of ghost workers, over aged personnel and others to create space for employment into the public service.

The Commissioner described the commencement of the ongoing exercise to engage 1000 workers into the public service as a pointer to the benefits of the reforms in addition to the huge financial reprieve from the removal of ghost names from the payroll.