THE UNTOLD STORY OF ATTAH’S SUSPENSION
••• Udom was aware of the activities of the Local Government Service Commission
•••He is witch-hunting Uyo Local Government Area
By Asuama Ekpo
The purported suspension of Dr Valentine Attah as the Chairman, Local Government Service Commission is simply politics of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s second term aimed at scheming Uyo Local Government Area out just like it happened in 2015.
The Governor’s reason that he was not aware of the activities of the commission concerning the re-absorption of the staff that were wrongly omitted in capturing by Skye Bank in 2014 and the employment of health personnel in the Unified Local Government Service is ridiculous.
In the first instance, it was the Governor as Secretary to the State Government in 2015 that personally signed the approval for the engagement.
The approval was given to the previous Commission but they failed to act. Therefore, if anything, the current Commission even deserves commendation for implementing government directive that was left unimplemented three years after approval was given.
Yet, these were people who were hitherto fully and legally engaged by the government.
Moreover, details of the process was duly captured in the commission’s annual report and forwarded to the Governor for his information.
Meanwhile, during the first ever NULGE Week, NULGE in Akwa Ibom State said the reason for their adoption of Governor Udom Emmanuel for a second term in office was strictly in appreciation to him for employing those frustrated staff and the health personnel to drive the governor’s policy on primary healthcare.
The Governor was physically present and accepted the endorsement on such reason given by NULGE. He even appreciated them with Thirty One Million Naira and a bus.
Various speakers at that event including the Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Rt Hon. (Barr.) Onofiok Luke, commended the commission on that.
The million naira question therefore is, why is Udom Emmanuel going back and forth if there is nothing sinister?
The Governor also sat down and listened to the address by Dr Valentine Attah, who also highlighted all the achievements of the commission including the engagement of staff as approved by the commission and not one person.
Going forward, the commission duly wrote to the Accountant General for payrollment formalities which was given including ID numbers through a letter dated 21st February, 2018 with the number: AKS/AG/CU/ADM/59/5.2/26.
The reduction of staff by the commission saved money to the tune of over (160,000,000 )One Hundred and Sixty Million Naira per month and nobody diverted it..
The issue of posting state government staff to traditional rulers’ offices at Local Government headquarters strictly contravenes the mandate of the commission, which includes performing such responsibility while State Government staff can only be posted to the office of the State Council of Chiefs.
The special promotion given to some staff of the Unified Local Government Service was a unanimous decision of the commission and it was implemented without any special interest, allowing those who were qualified for normal promotion to have both.
In any case, why is it only Dr Val Attah that is singled out for suspension when the decision of the commission is always collective and communicated by the permanent secretary?
Does that not give out the masked motive of the governor? If at all the commission is wrong in executing its official mandate, then the entire commission should be dissolved and not selectively witch-hunting the Chairman.
It will also make sense for the findings of the audit committee to be made public and let the world see who is indicted or otherwise.
This is simply rehearsals for the plot to cheat Uyo again in the distribution of political offices just like it happened in the first term. But the plotters have chosen a wrong path.
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