News: Labour Threatens Over FG's Plan to Sack 3,500 Workers

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), yesterday rejected plans by the Federal Government to sack 3,500 public servants on the guise that the their appointments were irregular and unauthorised, threatening to cripple government operations nationwide if it went ahead with the plan.

The body recalled that when it got wind that the Federal Government had concluded plans to sack about 6,000 workers because they were alleged to have been illegally recruited by the last administration, the Association filed a Suit in the National Industrial Court, NIC, to forestall the move, insisting that the matter was pending at NIC.

ASCSN, in a statement by its Secretary-General, Alade Bashir Lawal, expressed shock that the Federal Government wanted to send 3,500 employees to the over-saturated labour market.

"The greatest tragedy of this insensitive planned retrenchment is that the Association has already taken the Federal Government to court on this matter and the least we expect in a normal democratic society is for the Government to allow the court process to be pursued to its logical conclusion and in the interim maintain status quo ante on the matter.