Against the backdrop of the festering salary crisis in all the 21 local government areas in Kogi State, the chairman of Okehi local government area, Hon. Hassan Okehi Yusuf has called on stakeholders to convene a summit that will come up with workable plans to unlock the salary debacle, without further delay.
Hon. Yusuf who lamented the inability of council chairmen to pay salaries of workers as at when due because of dwindling monthly allocations from the federation account, stated that the only way out of the lock jam is the need for cross-fertilisation of ideas at a stakeholders summit in order to resolve the crisis.
He noted that the non payment of salaries of council workers came to the fore and is being compounded because of what he described as’’ over bloated workforce’’ at the various local government areas.
He blamed this unwholesome situation on what he called the politicisation of employment by past leadership at the various councils in the last dispensation.
Hon. Yusuf explained that it was not the wishes of council helmsmen to deny their workers of their rights, stressing that the financial crisis at third tier of government was increasingly becoming intractable.
He however disclosed that despite all the challenges he had had to contend with, he was still able to deliver dividends of democracy to the good people of Okehi LGA.
According to him, these remarkable achievements are in the areas of health, education, road construction and rehabilitation and the promotion of competitive sporting activities particularly in football where the local government area has a standing football team that were sponsored to Germany recently.
He further revealed that his administration recently showcased his developmental projects captured under the purview of SURE-P projects when the state governor Capt Idris Wada visited the local government area recently as part of his ongoing’ ’Thank You Tour’’ of all the 21 local government areas in the state.
It will be recalled that his outstanding performance in office so far, had earned him 2 separate awards from different organisations based in Kaduna and Ibadan, Oyo State.
Culled from The Graphic Newspaper
