Hundreds of Abia Town Planners laid off
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
Hundreds of Town Planners working with Abia State government have been laid off.
The development was said to have been verbally communicated to the affected workers in Obingwa, Aba South, Aba North, Osisoma and Ugwunagbo local government areas when they reported to work on Friday, August 9, 2024.
Those conversant with the sector said the directive would affect the majority of Town Planners working with the state government across the 17 local government areas of the state.
Later that evening of Friday, Governor Alex Otti, during his monthly Media Chat, confirmed the development, saying that the affected workers were on contract, not permanent employees.
Governor Otti also added that most of the Town Planners were hired not based on needs assessment but for the sake of political patronage.
Responding to a question on the rumoured sacking of the Town Planners earlier that day, Governor Otti said: “I am not versed in that but I will tell you what I know. The Town Planning Authority apparently had a lot of people who were on contract, not permanent staff and we believe that some of them were brought there as political patronage. What we are doing is to rationalize it.
“There are few of them who have the required skills, experience and certification and we are trying to absorb them. The rest of them (I think there are hundreds of them) that are surplus to requirement have been laid off.
They are not permanent employees of government, they are not civil servants. But they were engaged before now. We managed with them but we really don’t have any job for them.”
The rumour of the sacking of the Town Planner filtered into town as the depressed and crest-fallen workers returned home.
Sources said that the Director-General of Greater Aba Development Authority (GADA), Mr Uche Ukeje, gave the directive that the workers should go home after they had reported to work. Some of the affected workers claimed that no reason was given for the directive.
