This Christmas period
has been described as an era of cash flow to government staffers in Imo
State Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and by extension the traders
and artisans as the State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha cleared all the
workers’ salary arrears and allowances up to December 2015.
According to
information from the governor`s media office and office of his Chief
of Staff few days ago, Governor Okorocha approved the payment
of all workers salary up to December 2015.
About 10 Months salary
arrears of Imo State owned newspapers `the Statesman` was cleared, the health
workers whose payments have lingered for a long time close to
10 months were also cleared and others too numerous to mention.
When the governor gave
the directive to pay all workers, he made it clear that because of the
significance of workers salaries to him, his regime has always addressed issues concerning their salary with high regard.
He explained that the
delay in payment of health workers salary was due to the need to resolve the
issues of certain questionable allowances and cases of nonchalant attitude by
workers towards their jobs.
Without mincing words,
the governor stated that from 2011 when he took over the state mantle of
leadership, his administration has always paid workers salarie as at when due,
but explained that the unfortunate delay in payment of workers’
salaries was due to the dwindling economy of the country occasioned
by fall of oil price.
His words, “the truth
is there was never a time the state government intended to owe the Health
workers in the state. The only thing was that the government was not
satisfied with the conducts of the Health workers and their poor service
delivery to the people of the state, despite the huge amount being spent on the
payment of their salaries and allowances. The government also questioned
some of the allowances they were paying themselves.”
The governor who
reminded the workers that he was the first to pay minimum wage also called on
them to appreciate government’s good gestures by being up and doing in their
work especially in the coming year so that the state could move from strength
to strength.
Adding his voice the
governor`s Special Adviser on Public enlightenment and Strategy, DR Kelechi
Okpaleke, revealed that some workers in the health sector are paid bogus
amounts of money as salaries, for
instance, medical doctors went home with
about 1,200,000 (one million, two hundred thousand naira) as salaries and
allowances` monthly .
He said all most all
the workers in Imo State have collected their salaries, adding that he was
shocked with his findings that in Imo State Council For Arts and Culture,
some workers as old as 70 years old were still receiving salaries as dancers
while most of the younger ones come to the office only during month ends so they
can collect their salaries.
He wondered why some
of the journalists working in the state-owned newspaper company, The Statesman,
could not publish one article in one year and the newspaper has
failed to be regularly on newspaper stand even with the level of monthly financial
support they receive from the governor as subvention.
this most be good to imolites
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