By Demola Akinyemi

ILORIN-The kwara state government has approved an electrification project tagged, “Light up Kwara” to construct street lights covering 78 km in strategic places across the three senatorial parts of the state at the cost of N6.07B‎.

This among others was revealed at a press conference in ilorin recently on the decisions taken by the state government after its monthly state executive council meeting, where Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Alhaji Yisa Yeketi, his counterpart in Information, Alh Mahmud Ajeigbe, that of Energy, Alhaji Abubakar Garba, and the Governor’s Senior Assistant on Media and Communications, Dr Muideen Akorede and the Chief Press Secretary were also in attendant.

Commissioner for Energy,Alhaji Abubakar Garuba who informed journalists that the state government has approved N6.07 billion contracts for the phase 1 of the light up kwara project,noted that it will cover 78 kilometre major roads in Ilorin while the second phase will extend to Omu-Aran, Offa road and Moro.

Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development,Alh Yisa Yeketi also said that the state government has uncovered a syndicate of five top civil servants in the state, comprising three serving and two retirees who connived and illegally recruited 1,420 teachers in the state’s teaching service commission (TSC) against 449 approved by the government and vowed to sanction them.

Yeketi who blamed the erring officers for the fate of the beneficiaries of the illegal recruitments whom he described as ‘‘floating’, recalled that the state’s government in 2014, approved recruitment of 150 teaching staff and 206 security guards and also 93 teaching staff in 2015.

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State

He said the approvals were ‘‘for specific subjects specialists in Mathematics, English Language and other Science subjects’’ regretting that the commission went ahead to recruit ‘‘all sort of persons’’.

‘‘It was done in connivance of five principal officers; two of them have retired and the law will take its course on them .For those who are still in service, the civil service rule will take its course accordingly’’, he said.

The commissioner added that due process was also not followed in the recruitment of the approved 449 staff following which prompted the state government to direct that their appointment be regularised.

Speaking further, Yeketi said though the state government will not sack the affected persons, he however clarified that they will only be re-absorbed based on critical assessment needs of the ministry.

‘‘For those affected persons, government is not interested in sacking anybody, they are only floating, government will take them up based on the critical assessment needs of the ministry ,they have to show up and regularise their appointments’’, the commissioner said .

He also hinted that the state government has also placed embargo on the employment of new staff at the 16 local governments pending the time when each of the councils will pruned down to the maximum numbers of staff it can catered for.

Commissioner for Information,Alh Mahmud Ajeigbe in his address said that the state government had placed embargo on recruitment of new staff at the council level as a measure to prune down number of over bloated staff strengths which is affecting payment of salaries.

This, he said will be done through ‘‘natural elimination’’ saying ‘‘there will be no replacement in the case of ‘‘death and retirement of staff until the affected council’s come down to the maximum limit of the number of staff it can pay their salaries.

Ajeigbe added that the council had approved the construction of two additional campuses for the Kwara state university in Osi and Ille-sha Baruba at the cost of N2.8 billion which according to him, will be funded through the I-FK window.