The Director-General of Rivers Solidarity for Good Governance, Opu-oyibo Lilly-West, has condemned the stampede that occurred last Friday at the Obi Wali Centre during a verification exercise for civil servants in the Rivers State Basic Education sector.
Lilly-West blamed the incident on what he described as inhumane policies of the current administration led by Governor Ibas Ibok. He alleged that poor planning and disregard for the welfare of workers led to the overcrowding that triggered the stampede.
He also claimed that some civil servants, particularly from the Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement, have gone unpaid for over three months, worsening the hardship faced by government workers.
Lilly-West further criticized the administration for allegedly allocating ₦500 million to the ongoing manual verification exercise, despite the availability of an automated verification system in the office of the Head of Service. According to him, the digital platform is designed to update the status of both serving workers and retirees on a monthly basis, making the new process unnecessary and financially wasteful.
The incident at Obi Wali Centre has sparked wider concerns about transparency, governance, and the treatment of public servants in the state.
Leave feedback about this