Saraki sacks 100 aides

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has sacked about 100 of his aides.

The development confirmed reports earlier in the year that the Senate President had ordered a staff audit, in what was an indication of realignment of political forces ahead of the 2019 general elections.

The Senate President is said to be nursing presidential ambition.

It was gathered that the sacked aides were issued disengagement letters through the office of the Chief of Staff to the Senate President, Hakeem Baba Ahmed.

Also,  it was learnt that most of the affected aides were inherited staff of the immediate past Senate President, David Mark. One of the affected staff is the Director of Protocol, Arthur Ndiwe, who spent a total of 10 years on the position, having served Mark for eight years before continuing with Saraki in June 2015.

Confirming the development, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Senate President, however, explained that the sack affected both inherited and personal staff of Saraki.

He said the exercise was aimed at restructuring and bringing efficiency in service delivery to the office.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Olaniyonu said: “The restructuring that has just taken place on the workforce in the Office of the Senate President being reported as mass sack in the media, was meant to reposition the office for service delivery the outcome, which affected three categories of staff in different ways.

“The first category are those that have been found capable and competent to continue with their job like all the entire members of the media unit.

“The second category are those earlier seconded from the National Assembly bureaucracy to serve in the office of the Senate President but now directed to go back to their civil service job like the head of Administration, Folashade Adigun.

“The third category are those whose services within the last two years were not all that satisfactory in the eyes of the committee set up by the Senate President to carry out the repositioning exercise of his office”.