Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia, has approved the reintegration of local government workers who were disengaged from service in 2011 and 2012, marking a significant step toward addressing long-standing injustices within the state’s public service system.
The directive, which aims to restore fairness and equity at the grassroots level, was contained in a circular released by the Benue State Local Government Service Commission. The circular, dated October 10, 2025, and signed by Owoicho Odeh, Director of Administration and Finance, on behalf of the Commission’s Chairman, instructed all local government chairmen and Directors-General of Services and Administration to commence a comprehensive screening of the affected workers.
According to the notice, the screening exercise will focus on those employed in 2011 and 2012 but later removed from the government payroll. The process is scheduled to begin on October 20, 2025, and end on November 1, 2025, running daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Local Government Service Commission Headquarters in Makurdi. Each local government area will have a specific date allocated for its screening session.
A mop-up session has also been scheduled to accommodate workers who might miss their designated screening dates—Zone A on October 30, Zone B on October 31, and Zone C on November 1, 2025.
All affected staff have been directed to come along with their letters of first appointment, confirmation and last promotion, certificate of local government origin, birth certificate or declaration of age, academic qualifications, and valid means of identification. They are also to provide their bank details, BVN, and National Identification Number (NIN).
The Commission further called on the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) across the 23 local councils to mobilize all affected members to participate in the exercise, stressing that only individuals whose names appear on the verified list will be attended to.
Governor Alia’s decision has been widely interpreted as part of his administration’s commitment to rebuilding public confidence and correcting systemic injustices within Benue’s civil service. The initiative, officials say, is designed to ensure that all qualified and duly employed workers who were unfairly removed over a decade ago are reinstated and given their rightful place in the system.
By this move, the Alia administration hopes to not only restore employment to affected workers but also reinforce its pledge to transparency, accountability, and fair governance across all tiers of government in the state.
