Salawu: Me, hire a school cert holder as medical officer? Dep govs don’t have such power

Philips Salawu, a former deputy governor of Kogi state, has denied the allegation that he employed a secondary school certificate holder as medical officer while in office.

Speaking to reporters in Kano on Wednesday, Salawu appealed to the administration of Yahaya Bello, the incumbent governor, to spare his reputation.

A committee set up by Bello to screen staff under the employ of the government, had said one Vivian Salawu, an in-law to the former deputy governor, had confessed that he approved her appointment as medical officer on grade level 13, step 6.

She was quoted to have said her husband’s brother directed his personal assistant to write an application letter on her behalf, while she signed.

“I was taking the salary to the wife of the former deputy governor through her personal assistant, while they gave me only N15,000 every month,” she had reportedly said.

“When they were about to leave government, Salawu quickly directed that I should be converted to a clerical officer and I was posted out of his office to the office of the head of service.”

But Salawau denied the allegation, saying it was not in line with his position to recruit appointees.

“Appointees in deputy governor’s office are indeed employee of the governor, and wish to state that the position of the deputy governor remain a spare tyre in our democracy and I don’t have the power to employ, hire, fire or fix the emoluments of such political appointees,” he said.

“It is on record that all the political staff in the then deputy governor’s office who wanted to get employed into civil service were regularized at least 3 months to the exit date of the deputy governor.

“I made a proposal to my boss for employment of political staff which was approved and further gave them enhanced civil service package as against consolidated salary.”

Salawu said those employed based on his recommendation were still in the civil service as “real workers, not ghost workers”.

“In fact, they are also receiving their normal civil service grade level salaries, including this particular Vivian Salawu, who had been receiving a clerical level salary since her conversion into civil service, 5 years ago.”