Posted by The planned staff audit of the state workforce has been decentralized, according to the academic and non-academic personnel of Osun State-owned tertiary institutions.
The unions made the announcement during a news conference held by the College of Education Academic Staff Union, COEASU, of the College of Education, Ila-Orangun, and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic, ASUP, of the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, and the Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke on Tuesday in Osogbo.
Members of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions took part in the press conference as well.
Speaking on behalf of the unions, Fatai Afolabi, ASUP Chairman, OsunPoly, Iree insisted that although they were not opposed to the personnel audit for the Osun workers, they believed the consultant hired by the state government had the necessary expertise.
Additionally, they demanded that the state government reconsider the audit process or prepare for a walkout.
“We are writing to bring your attention to the circular on the 2023 Staff Annual Audit, dated June 26, 2023, and bearing reference number MHRCB/001/T/30, issued by the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Human Resources.
We fundamentally disagree with the modus operandi, which centralized the entire exercise at the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, for the following reasons even though we are not opposed to the proposed annual staff audit exercise.
The operation of the institutions will be impacted since former students from different regions of the country won’t be able to process and collect their statement of results, certificates, and transcripts, among other things, if the State-owned tertiary schools are closed for three or four days.
The risk associated with the mass movement of workers from different parts of the state may be mitigated if the exercise is decentralized considering the level of insecurity in the country. Taking into account the foregoing, the current students of the institution would be denied access to teaching and learning for these periods of time which may cause student unrest.
“Given the country’s current position, which includes the abrupt elimination of subsidies without any policy or official remedy, decentralizing the exercise will save money by reducing the expense of mobilizing all workers to a single location.
“The majority of the Institutions are preparing for the accreditation exercise, which requires that all staff be on site because the exercise is crucial to the Institutions’ survival.”
“That the government maintain the natural tradition of the exercise whereby members are attended to at their various institutions/campuses without affecting their daily schedule of duties,” is one of the demands made by the unions.
“The Union demands that the 2023 annual Statewide staff audit be decentralized right away. The Government is urged to grant the aforementioned petitions in order to preserve the state’s current level of industrial peace and harmony.
The Osun State Government reportedly told the state employees that the staff audit was not a witch hunt, according to DAILY POST.
The state workforce was also given assurances by Governor Ademola Adeleke that the audit will improve the state’s ability to meet the demands of its employees, the general public, and the state leadership.
The state labor unions had initially protested the audit because neither they nor anybody else was involved.