Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has been advised to make the payment of salaries to cleared workers and pensioners in the state a priority.
Hon. Toba Abraham, a renowned publisher and public policy analyst in Kogi State, made this known while speaking against the backdrop of the recent strike action embarked upon by Kogi State workers and government inability to pay cleared workers weeks after the organised labour called off the seven weeks old strike.
The publisher said rather than concentrate on trying to pay those said to have been pardon by the state Governor, he appealed to the Governor to put the available resources together for the payment of salaries to the genuine and recently cleared workers.
The publisher decried a situation where by Labour seems to be more concerned about the workers who were been pardon for various criminal offences at the expense of genuinely cleared workers who at the end of November would have been owed backlog of four months salaries.
The publisher expresses his displeasure with the Governor for bowing to pressure from Labour by announcing pardon to those who have committed so much infringement against the state even when it was apparent and clearly accepted by labour and other stakeholders that those infractions were actually committed.
While acknowledging the right and the discretionary power of the Governor to grant such pardon he was of the opinion that all efforts would have been concentrated on re-integrating back to the state payroll those genuine workers who were newly cleared and have not been paid. If this had been done, the cries that the Governor is not paying salary would not have arisen.
He said rather than Labour and those so-called pardon workers to continue to show appreciation to the Governor for his magnanimity and show of mercy, they instead resulted to propaganda and blackmail that they are being owed 20 months salaries.
Toba, however, believe it has become imperative due to the exigency of the situation that the Governor put in place the needed machinery to ensure that those genuine workers and pensioners who have been cleared and have not been paid and those who have been receiving their salaries be accorded priority by ensuring that these categories of workers are paid up to date.
“This will help to separate the ‘wheat from the chaff.’ And this will help to confirm to the whole world that Governor Bello is not owing salary,” he said.
According to him, a situation whereby those who have defrauded the state as reflected in the recently publicised lists of workers with fake/forged certificates and many who have been indicted of collecting multiple salaries, diaspora workers and so on would seems to have attracted the sympathy of labour leaders more than the genuine workers is not morally acceptable.
Hon. Toba described Governor Bello as God sent with good intention to reposition Kogi State for greatness. He applauded Governor Bello’s courage for embarking on the Workers screening and the transparent manner in which the exercise was carried out.
According to him the workers screening was a necessity given the magnitude of corruption perpetuated by a microscopic minorities in the civil service of Kogi State.
He noted the pains the exercise has brought on genuine, innocent. honest. hardworking and committed workers but quickly appeal to the workers to cooperate with the governor as he strive to improve on the welfare and well-being of the generality of the citizen of the state and the workers in particular noting that governance in this time of recession is a difficult task, that require the cooperation of all.
Hon. Toba urged the governor to listen to the voice of reasoning and see how those cleared workers would be paid till date.
