Fact Check: Has Buhari Sacked Any Civil Servant Since Assuming Power?

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has said that despite the challenges faced by the All Progressive Congress-led administration when it took over the mantle of leadership, the government has not retrenched a single worker.

Mohammed, who made the assertion during an interview said that no worker was sacked even though the country experienced economic recession as soon as President Muhammadu Buhari was elected into office in May 2015.

The minister said, “So, it is important for us to remind them. Let me tell you, this government is not in any panic mood. We are so proud of our achievements that in less than three years I can stand up and say this is what we have achieved in the area of security; this is what we have achieved in the economy, in the area of ease of doing business.

“There is no area we have not made our mark. We lifted Nigeria from number 165 in the ease of doing business to 145. It is not a mean feat! And we exited recession at a time when the price of crude was low; we were in recession when we implemented the diversification of the economy.”

“It is on record that despite all these challenges we have not retrenched one person. So, why should we be afraid? Why should we panic? I don’t see any reason why we should panic; I think it is the imagination of people that the government is panicky. No!” He said.

Fact check by THE WHISTLER reveals that of a certain, massive retrenchment have not occurred since President Buhari assumed office.

However, some workers have been relieved of their duties following investigations which indicted them of corruption and other crimes.

One of such was Nigeria’s highest-ranking civil servant, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal who was fired by President Buhari after a panel of lawmakers alleged that he diverted aid money away from relief programmes in north-eastern Nigeria for private gain.

Similarly, Ayodele Oke, Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, was also sacked after more than US$43m in foreign and local currencies was found by the financial crimes agency in a Lagos house linked to him.

Meanwhile, coordinator, African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Chido Onumah, revealed that workers who expose the corrupt activities of top officials in the civil service are immediately laid off.

He said, “We have seen cases where whistleblowers were victimised. And the case of secrecy is very common in the civil service. A lot of civil servants are languishing because they have raised concerns about corruption within their agencies and they get sacked. And they are afraid to come to the press because they think they will talk to a minister or a permanent secretary to beg on their behalf and be reinstated and made to promise they won’t do it again. But few have been able to come out.

“There was a case of one Thomson in the ministry of foreign affairs who was sacked last year but has just been reinstated. It took a lot of time before that could happen; we had to fight on his behalf till it happened. So, if it continues this way, not many people will be interested in whistle-blowing, knowing that at the end of the day, it is the punishment you get for the work you did. They suspended him and sacked him and even when he was recalled, they still kept punishing him because they took him to the library department, though he has left for another ministry.

“There is another case of Murtala Ibrahim who was sacked from the Federal Mortgage Bank,” he had said.

You will however recall that following the economic downturn of the country in August 2016, banks such as Heritage Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Sky Banks, Diamond Banks amongst others compulsorily retired hundreds of staff.