There was a low turnout of federal and state civil servants as work resumed in Ibadan on Friday after the two-day public holiday declared for Christmas and Boxing Day celebrations.
Recall the state and federal governments had declared Wednesday and Thursday as public holidays for the Christmas and Boxing Day celebrations respectively.
At the federal and state secretariats at Ikolaba and Agodi, respectively, few workers reported for duties.
Some of the workers said the lateness was normal as the majority of them would have travelled out of Ibadan.
According to a federal worker, Mr Jacob Boboye, some workers, who had travelled to their respective towns for the celebrations, would prefer to wait till Sunday before coming back.
“You know that the FG paid salaries on Tuesday, so workers had money to travel and meet their families for the Christmas celebration.
“I believe the majority of the workers would be at their duty posts on Monday,” Boboye said.
Another federal civil servant, Mrs Aminat Yusuf, attributed the delay in the workers’ resumption to the high cost of transport fares.
Yusuf said some of the civil servants, who travelled out of the state capital, would gradually return to work before the close of work on Friday.
She said two of her colleagues, who travelled, had called to inform her that the hike in transport fares was responsible for their delayed resumption.
At the state secretariat, Mr Gabriel Adeji, said some of those yet to be in office might have obtained one form of official permission or the other.
Adeji said that no civil servant could be absent from work without a cogent reason.
He appreciated the state government for the prompt payment of workers’ salaries, which he claimed made them enjoy the Christmas celebration.
Meanwhile, Mrs Bola Adunola of the state civil service, said she rested well during the holiday and was resuming with vigour to continue carrying out her duties.
Adunola encouraged her colleagues to justify their monthly pay by taking their jobs with a sense of responsibility.
(NAN)
