Contrary to information making the rounds in some quarters, the Kogi State Government never cut salaries of any of its staff by 40 per cent.
An accurate account of the salary situation in Kogi State today is that since the advent of the Idris Wada administration, salary payments to civil servants have been prioritised. Civil servants in the state have been paid before the end of every month in spite of dwindling allocations to the state.
On the average, the state has devoted between 80 and 90 per cent of its allocation to salary payments. In addition, the state has dedicated about a third of its IGR ( which has increased by over 250 per cent since 2012) to paying leave bonuses of its 26,000 civil servants.
As an administration that takes welfare of its staff seriously, a stakeholders’ meeting comprising labour unions, political office holders and government officials was convened in April to discuss the dire situation the state was faced with that month as a result of the shortfall in allocation which was occasioned by the 50 per cent fall in crude oil price. One of the proposals at that meeting was that senior civil servants and political appointees should sacrifice a portion of their salaries so that junior civil servants could get paid fully for that month. Eventually, the option that was agreed upon by the stakeholders enabled the state meet its salary obligations to civil servants for that month. At no time was a decision reached to slash salaries by 40 per cent.
Abubakar Yusuf,
Lokoja, Kogi State,
+23481382384
Culled from Punch
