Babatunde Hunpe, chairman of the Badagry Local Government Area of Lagos State, on Friday said the council has disengaged 266 casual workers to enable it to reposition its workforce for efficiency and accountability.

Mr Hunpe disclosed in an interview with journalists in Badagry on Friday that the disengagement was necessary because many affected workers were either unproductive, engaged in ghost working, or simply absent from duty.

The 266 workers were employed by Olusegun Onilude, the immediate past chairman of the council.

“We cannot continue to pay salaries to people who do not justify their pay,” Mr Hunpe said.

Mr Hunpe added that in some primary health centres (PHCs), there were more than 20 workers on the payroll, yet not a single patient in sight.

“In some cases, workers were nowhere to be found at all. I even encountered that of a gate man during my tour of facilities, who abandoned his post for his little son to man,” he said.

The chairman noted that, with 15 PHCs in Badagry, only three operated round the clock, while the others ran on limited hours and remained underutilised.

He argued that such a workforce arrangement was unsustainable and unfair to the council, which struggled to meet the growing demands of the community.

Mr Hunpe, however, clarified that the sack was not a blanket dismissal.

The chairman said steps were already being taken to reabsorb some of the affected workers who were dedicated and productive.

Mr Hunpe, however, stressed that his decision was borne strictly out of the need for productivity, not ”the usual tradition or sentiment.”

On August 29, the chairman sacked all non-pensionable staff; the affected workers received their disengagement letters on August 27.

The letter, signed by the council’s administrative arm, directed staff members to hand over all government property in their possession to the admin/HR department.

(NAN)