A Chief in Benue Civil Service and his 15 wives are on Payroll, Gov. Ortom reveals
Posted by Factnews | 6 years ago | 2,613 times
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State speaking on why his administration finds it extremely difficult to pay salaries, explains that the swith the challenge of ghost workers and salary padding by civil servants.
Ortom who spoke to newsmen in an interview said he is aware that Workers in Benue state are not happy over the inability of the state government to pay them backlog of unpaid salaries and have therefore embarked on an indefinite strike but that his comment is making efforts to handle the difficulty.
“We feel very strongly that for us to have a sustainable wage bill we must find a way of reducing the wage bill from where it is today. In doing that those legitimately employed who are also working and have schedules shouldn’t have any problem.
“But those who are ghost workers or those who found themselves in government and are not doing the work but are collecting salaries they will have no choice but to leave because I’m already pushed to the wall and we don’t know where to go. So we have to find ways.
“Do you know that so many people are residing in parts of the country but they come here to draw salaries? I know of a chief who has 15 wives and all of them are on the payroll of a local government and the children are over 20 all of them are there and some of them are in secondary and tertiary institutions, they are there drawing salaries. These are areas we must touch so that those people who are working legitimately and are doing their jobs can get their salaries as at when due.
“But those who have nothing to do working with government should find their ways out. So we will do everything while we are talking to other agencies. We are committed to ensuring that we reduce the wage bill through a genuine process that will not victimize anyone, that will help to give us a wage bill that is sustainable.
“But beyond that, we are doing everything possible to ensure that we have these arrears cleared. Just last recently, we met with a consultant whom we commissioned to try to work to see even if it’s to float bonds like the labour leaders met me the other time and suggested to help us clear the arrears and so on, that will be done.
“ But honestly I feel pained, I’m not sleeping either because there is no way I can have my peace when I have a challenge like this affecting everybody in Benue State including my own family who are also on my neck to ensure that salaries are paid, that is how traumatised I am over the matter,” Ortom said
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