Gov Okpebholo recruits 360 cleaners into civil service

Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State has employed 360 cleaners from the state’s three senatorial districts into the civil service as part of efforts to prioritize people-centered governance.

Dr. Anthony Okungbowa, the State Head of Service, disclosed this during a press briefing in Benin on Friday, highlighting the administration’s commitment to enhancing workforce capacity in various government ministries and parastatals.

According to Okungbowa, the new employees have been fully integrated into the civil service, marking a departure from the previous administration’s reliance on contractors and consultants who could terminate employment at will.

“Recently, the governor directed that cleaners should be employed into the state civil service as against using consultants and contractors.

“These consultants and contractors were into business and contract with government.

“They were paid to employ cleaners to clean government offices, and their take home pay then was not encouraging and couldn’t take them home.

“Gov Okpebholo was not pleased with the arrangement of the Obaseki administration, and as such instructed that a direct employment should be embarked on to ensure cleaners are recruited and get paid the N70,000 minimum wage,” he said.

Speaking further, he added that before their employment, cleaners in the state were receiving between N20,000 to N30,00 because they were working under contractors with no job security.

According to him, they have been given appointment letters and they cut across the three senatorial districts of the state.

“This is not the only batch that will be employed by the Edo State government as there will be another batch coming up, ” he added.