2,484 sacked civil servants threaten legal action against Benue govt

Civil servants in Benue State who were sacked by Governor Hyacinth Alia have written a letter to the state government demanding their reinstatement within 30 days, or face legal action.

Recall that within a week after Alia was sworn in as the state governor, he fired 2,484 civil servants employed between May 2022 and March 2023.

He also went ahead to reverse all promotions that were made in the civil service, including that of permanent secretaries.

The position of the sacked workers was contained in a letter by their counsel, Samuel Irabor, to the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), on Wednesday, in Makurdi, the state capital.

The letter was captioned: ‘Notice of Demands and 30 Days Pre-Action Notice.’

The workers argued that they were lawfully employed, and given employment letters, and had carried out the duties attached to their jobs diligently.

READ ALSO:Benue govt uncovers 2,500 ghost teachers, LGA staff, saves N1.2bn

They demanded that the state government pays their salaries, and allowances as their employment went through a due process.

The letter read in part: “It is the complaint of our client that by a press statement on Wednesday, June 7, 2023 the Government of Benue State arbitrarily terminated their contract of employment for no cause even though their employment was considered, approved and authorized by the Benue State Executive Council which is the highest decision-making body of the Benue State Government.

“Painfully, our clients are owed arrears of salaries and allowances from their various period of employment till the time of this notice.

“Flowing from the above, we have our clients’ instruction to apply for their re-instatement and payment of their arrears of salaries and allowances through the facility of our law firm. In the event of non-conformity with the demands above, our clients issues this 30 days pre-action notice.

“Take notice that at the expiration of the pre-action period, we have the instructions of our clients to initiate, and maintain till judgment, legal action to ventilate the above demands.

“It is our implicit trust that due process will prevail in the resolution of the issues herein laid out. We therefore believe that the Benue State Government will do the needful.”

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