Following an alleged secret directive given by the Head of Service (HOS) Hajia Zahra Omar, that the gate of the Governor’s Office Complex Ilorin, Kwara State should be locked on Tuesday by 8a.m when civil servants in the state were expected to have resumed, no fewer than 50 workers and visitors were Tuesday, reportedly locked out.
Punch reports that Hajia Zahra had secretly given the directive on Monday.
Many of the senior and junior workers were caught unawares as they arrived the office to see that the gate had already been locked.
According to reports, at about 8.30a.m, it was observed that the workers were stranded while some of them openly expressed concern because they were not sure of the security of their jobs.
Some of the punctual workers, who spoke on the incident, said the HOS had appealed to the workers many time to always be punctual to work. One of them, who pleaded not to be named, said,“It is surprising that the workers did not heed the advice.
“The directive was carried out on Monday in some other ministries whose offices were not in the complex. Although the civil servants in the Governor’s Office complex were not notified that such measure would be executed on Tuesday, they should have taken precautionary measures.”
In the same vein, some of the workers, who came late and were affected by the exercise, allegedly said they had some challenges on their ways. They said they had received several warnings from the HOS, adding that they should be forgiven. Many of them reportedly promised that they would not come late to the office again.
A corps member, who declined to mention his name, said he was surprised to be locked out as he came to make some documentation, adding that visitors to the complex should have been spared.
As at press time, however, efforts to get the HOS’s response was unsuccessful as a worker in her office said she had decided not to comment on the issue.
However, a source, who spoke on grounds of anonymity, said the HOS used the measure to compel the workers to be punctual to work, adding that she was not sure whether there would be disciplinary measures against the late-coming workers.
Comments