Anambra Sacks 11 Broadcast Staff, Redeploys 100

The Anambra state government yesterday announced the sack of 11staffers of the state owned broadcast station, Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) over alleged age and certificate falsifications.

Joe-martins Uzodike, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Youths and Culture, said the exercise was carried out as part of ongoing rationalization of the state broadcast station, stating that more than 100 workers had been disengaged from the establishment or redeployed to other organisations.

Uzodike noted some staff were deployed to other organizations “they could be useful to the state government.

” The Commissioner stated that “apart from that, the government had taken a decision that all the staff of ABS, who were sent to other ministries on secondment, would remain there. By that development they would cease to be staff of the ABS,” the commissioner said.

He described as “saddening” the inability of the management of ABS to pay its 385 staff January salary, which was one of the reasons for the rationalisation.

“The worrisome aspect was that the management squandered a whopping sum of N16 million that had always been set aside for the payment of pensions and gratuities without being able to pay staff salary.

“No responsible government can allow this rascality to continue hence the need for the rationalisation.” He added that the state government also realised that several of the station’s “staff come to work once a week and disappear till the following week when they will resurface.”