Maiden Edition "Face the Press" Tackled Salaries issue
The permanent secretary, Bureau for local government, Taraba state, Alhaji Bello Yero, cited the activities of aggrieved top local government staff as one of the main reason some staffers are yet receive salary alerts. He said such top staff include the Directors of Finance who, hitherto, were making a fortune from the spectre of "ghost workers". He revealed that Governor Darius Ishaku had approved the sacking of eight directors in Sarduana local government area fingered in the salary rackets.
Speaking at the maiden edition of FACE THE PRESS, Yero said that the current verification exercise is to ensure " appropriate staff" got what is due to them at the right time. He said the past was marred by all sorts of corrupt practices that crippled salary administration. He said that when completed, incidences of under payment, extortions and other unwholesome practices would be a thing of the past.
He said, "there is wickedness in some of these low places. A lady came to me, I won't disclose her name. She said her salary is twenty thousand naira but all she has been getting is six thousand naira. Imagine that. She is now getting her full pay through this system."
Yero lamented the spate of fakery in the system, bemoaning the crises of false declarations of names, status, among other details. He said government had the right motive in dealing with the salary issue in the face dwindling revenue from the federation account. He said a situation where more than half of the state allocation goes to salary servicing is not tolerable. He noted further that Taraba state has one of the lowest Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) profile- a fact which makes it imperative to cut cost and waste. The staff audit, he noted further is to deal with the twin evil of ghost staff and those benefiting from the cartel.
Yero said the current hue and cry is the handiwork of local government staff that have been cut off as middle men by the electronic system. He said the Department State Services (DSS) had investigated and reached conclusions on the agitations. According to him, government is already cracking down on the racketeers at various labour. He stressed that the government would sort all the problems associated with salaries.
In a similar vien, Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education(SUBEB), Mr Yakubu Agbaizo, said that the agency is working hard to ensure teachers always get their salaries.
