LAUTECH Illegal Recruitment: Osun Lawmakers, Politician’s wives, Relatives to be Sacked

Workers of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, are living in palpable fear, following the plan by Osun state government to sack some of them.

The state government had announced that it uncovered illegal recruitment of about 678 members of staff through a forensic audit of staff in the hospital.

The state government said that there were proofs to show that some administrative officers, with Bachelor’s Degrees and Higher National Diploma certificates, “were recruited as security and ward assistants on Grade Level 02, only to be promoted to Level 07 within three months of their unapproved appointment.”

The statement said it was also discovered that over 500 members of staff that are executive and assistant executive officers more than triple the number of available doctors and consultants.

However, CityMirrorNews’s investigation has revealed that some of the workers that were allegedly employed illegally are wives and relatives of members of the 6^th Osun state House of Assembly (2011-2015) and some notable politicians in the state.

The affected workers were said to have been employed in 2012/2013 under the administration of former Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Professor Femi Fadiora.

CityMirrorNews gathered that wives and relatives of the lawmakers and other chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) dominated the recruitment exercise, based on the employment slots given to each and everyone of them.

It was gathered that Fadiora had earlier employed the politicians’ wives and relative staff as level, 2, 3 and 4 workers.

The politicians, especially the lawmakers, allegedly pressurized Fadiora and insisted that their ‘people’ could not be given low level, considering the certificates they parade.

Fadiora, who was haunting the favour of the politicians caved in and allegedly promoted the newly employed wives and relatives of the politicians.

CityMirrorNews learnt that the mass recruitment exercise and arbitrary promotion of workers was, among other reasons that made Governor Rauf Aregbesola not to return Fadiora as LAUTECH CMD for another term.

Findings also revealed that the Oyo state government finally refused to pay LAUTECH hospital workers when it discovered that there was massive recruitment of workers without its consent.

A statement from the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, on the illegal recruitment reads: “What sense would it make for (a) hospital with 34 administrative officers; 56 consultants and 154 resident doctors to employ 426 administrative executive officers?

“Should there be need for recruitment at all? Will it not be beneficial for the government and the hospital management to recruit officers into strategic area of the state’s health care needs?

“With the current statistics available, the administrative executive officers have more than tripled the numbers of doctors, consultants and nurses, who are the special needs of a functional hospital.

“To make matters worse, all the recruitment and undue promotions of workers from Grade Level 02 to that of Grade Level 07 within 3 months were done without the approval of the government.”