BREAKING NEWS: APC decries plight of 3,000 sacked Zamfara workers

The All Progressives Congress in Zamfara State has accused Governor Dauda Lawal of forcing over 3,000 workers, who were sacked by his administration, to beg in order to feed their families.

Speaking through its spokesperson, Alhaji Yusuf Idris, the party also charged the state government with neglecting the welfare of its employees, alleging that despite significant monthly allocations, the administration has disregarded their well-being and urgent needs.

The Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Communications, Mustafa Kaura, however, stated that the APC had nothing to say regarding the welfare of civil servants.

Kaura blamed the former governor and now Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, and his predecessor, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, as being responsible for all the difficulties currently being experienced by both the serving and retired civil servants in the state.

Speaking on the sacked workers, Idris said the verification committee established by the governor upon assuming office in 2023 dismissed over 3,000 workers who had undergone the screening exercise, even though none was found wanting.

He lamented that the affected workers, who had served between 10 and 20 years, were reduced to begging overnight.

“The sacked workers have been wallowing in poverty and hunger without salary for about 10 months, a situation that has forced them to turn to beggars,” he said. 

The party spokesperson alleged that the sacking was politically motivated, adding that “Those affected are suspected to be sympathetic to political parties other than the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the state.”

He explained that many of the sacked workers had gathered in large numbers at the Gusau Eid prayer ground to seek divine intervention, offering prayers and reciting verses from the Holy Qur’an.

Idris, therefore, urged the government to recall the sacked workers and pay them their salaries to avoid further escalation of insecurity.

“We are calling on the state government, especially the governor, to immediately reinstate the affected victimised civil servants to save the state from an already escalating insecurity situation,” he said.

Idris lamented that the governor did not care about the welfare of the workers, despite the huge allocation from the Federal Government.

He alleged, “Zamfara State Government under Governor Dauda Lawal and the PDP collects between N19bn and N30bn monthly as federal allocation in addition to its acclaimed N2bn monthly as locally generated revenue.

“The governor only uses the money to jolly away life with family and friends, while sacking workers to save more money for the jamboree.”

Kaura, however, accused Matawalle and Yari of creating the problems for workers in the state.

“We are all living witnesses that the previous administrations of Matawalle and Abdulaziz Yari deliberately refused to pay for the pension and gratuity of the retired civil servants since 2014.

“Similarly, the immediate past Governor Matawalle left three months’ unpaid salaries of the civil servants.

“So when Governor Dauda Lawal took over, he immediately paid for the three months’ salaries and also commenced payment of gratuities to the retired civil servants.

“As I am talking to you now, all the civil servants who retired up to 2024 have received their entitlements, while efforts are being made to also pay those who retired recently,” he said.