Our most pertinent concern is to pay genuine civil servants their owed salaries

Kogi State Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello has expressed that his government’s most pertinent concern was to clear the 4 – 5 months salary arrears it owed genuine civil servants in the state.

The Governor pointed out that his government could not pretend that there were no unresolved issue as workers welfare were concerned.

He similarly promised all workers in Kogi State that his government would straightforward in its dealing with them and also work as hard as possible to make sure that the State meet up with monthly salary payments, no matter how small the income of the state was.

Governor Bello made this known on Wednessday through an address delivered by the Secretary to the State Government Dr. Mrs. Folashade Arike Ayoade to commemorate the 2019 workers day celebration.

He used the occasion to felicitate with all the workers in the state, stating that without doubt, the State’s workforce was the engine room of government at all levels.

Governor Bello affirmed that Politicians would never remain forever in office, but the civil servants would keep the wheels of administration turning through successive governments.

He also thanked them for their services through the good and bad, thick and thin moments of this administration, acknowledging that appreciating them enough for their contributions to the State from its inception till date would be near impossible.

On salary owed the Governor again pointed out that For the bulk of the workers who were cleared without any delays during the screening exercise which ended in 2017, the State owed them between 4 to 5 months salaries.

Governor Bello further expantiated that there were relatively fewer numbers who were later re-added to the workforce after they failed screening who may be owed more depending on when they were returned to the payroll.

He asserted that this category included those whose credentials were denied as fake by their schools but later managed to resolve their differences with such institutions to the satisfaction of government.

Governor Bello also recalled that the State inherited substantial liabilities in the form of unpaid workers’ remuneration from previous administrations, and as government was continuum, His government has continued to treat those liabilities as theirs with the meagre income it earns.

He stated that the leadership of Organized Labour in the State has been consistent in partnering with his government whenever the State received extraordinary funds, noting that they could attest that whatever was agreed should go to salaries, have always been used appropriately.

The State Governor restate his commitment to key into the new minimum wage recently signed into law by Mr. President and also in the usual approach sit with the Labour leadership to fashion out workable modalities for actualization.

Governor Bello on a brighter note, mentioned that in a recently released National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Labour Force Statistics, Kogi State was one of the only 9 states out of 36 which recorded a reduction in unemployment and underemployment rates despite a general increase in the overall national rate.

He also stated delightedly that when the benefits of the State’s difficult but necessary Civil Service and Pension Reforms were confirmed by credible institutions , Kogi State workers would be the greatest beneficiaries.
Governor Bello concluded by restating his determination to be that Governor who would bequeath to Kogi State a sanitized, digitized and motivated modern workforce.