Delta Council Chairman, Iteire Sacked 30 Workers, Replaced Them With Cronies, Family Members—Sources

One of the victims said at the time the council chairman resumed, the affected workers had worked for 10 years.

Chairman, Isoko North Local Government Area, Delta State, Christian Iteire has sacked over 30 workers working in different departments of the council, SaharaReporters has learnt.

The sacking, our correspondent reliably gathered, took place barely three weeks after the council chairman was sworn-in in March this year.

One of the victims said at the time the council chairman resumed, the affected workers had worked for 10 years.

“But, immediately the current chairman came into office, he sacked so many of us and replaced us with some of his family members, kinsmen, cronies, and political associates.

“The chairman told us there was no money to pay us and the question is where is he going to get money to pay those he replaced us with? Over twenty environmental health workers, over ten security personnel as well as other regular workers working in the council for the past ten years were affected,” the source said.

Lamenting her sacking, one of the council’s female workers who also spoke on condition of anonymity, described the council chairman as a “heartless and wicked human being”.

The source described the sacking as a witch-hunt to settle some political scores.

“Iteire has no atom of human feelings for his fellow beings. Our sacking was politically motivated. He disengaged us and engaged his cronies and family members with flimsy excuses of a paucity of funds. On his assumption as the council chairman, Iteire first fired some set of casual workers who had worked for over ten years and replaced them with his kinsmen and women before proceeding on this second phase of sacking.

“The chairman who claimed that he fired us due to paucity of funds has met with some prominent traditional rulers and political leaders within the local government council to bring names of people he can use to replace some of the sacked council workers. This shows that our sacking by the council chairman, Christian Othuke Iteire, had a political undertone.”

Reacting to the sacking of the council workers when contacted, the chairman of the local government council, Christian Iteire, tried to justify the sacking and at the same time deny it.

He said the affected persons, especially those in the security department abandoned their duty post which led to the looting and vandalisation of some valuables in the council secretariat.

“Nothing of such was done. In fact, I had taken action by arresting them they wouldn’t have gone this far. They don’t report to work, the council was vandalised, things were stolen from the council worth over N2 million,” Iteire alleged.