By Adenitan Akinola/ Funmi Adekoya

Some civil servants in Osun State have rejected the staff Audit exercise directed by Governor Ademola Adeleke as they staged a workout from the venue of the exercise in Osogbo.

The verification exercise had commenced few days ago and had been going on daily at the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding located in Abere area of the State capital.

It continued on Thursday when workers of the Hospitals Management Board were expected to appear before an auditing consultant hired by the state government.

Few minutes after the workers had converged on the venue for the exercise, it was gathered that some of them became uncomfortable with the process and disagreed with the consultant on the mode and other logistics involved in the auditing.

Consequently, the area became rowdy as some workers started singing solidarity songs and declared that they were no longer interested in the auditing process.

The angry workers parked their academic credentials and stormed out of the venue.

Recall that the Academic and Non-Academic Staff of Osun State-owned tertiary institutions had called on the State government to decentralize the planned staff audit of the State workforce.

The unions, however, threatened to embark on industrial action if the consulting firm fails to reason and put the concerns they had raised into consideration.\

In the meantime, Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke has ordered immediate review of the ongoing staff audit across the state public service just as he restated the commitment of his administration to the enhancement and protection of workers’ interest.

Addressing a joint meeting of labour leaders and the auditing firm, Governor Adeleke directed the joint committee working on the exercise to address all sticky areas and come up with acceptable modalities for hitch free exercise.

The Governor expressed displeasure at the inconvenience the exercise has caused public servants and instructed the Head of Service to ensure adjustment of the procedures to ensure the well being and comfort of the workforce.

He called for the adjustment of the procedures to have a mutually acceptable exercise, noting that the purpose of the audit exercise is to block leakages and expand staff welfare.

The Governor directed the joint committee to meet to decide on the new acceptable timetable that will take into account the diversity and peculiarities of each government agency or ministry, as well as brainstorm on decentralisation of the exercise on zonal basis to reduce the burden and logistics of movements to the capital city.

Governor Adeleke urged all stakeholders to join hands to ensure a hitch free completion of the staff auditing, adding that his government partnership and brotherhood with the labour movement preclude any anti-labour move from his table.

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