Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports.
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state has rejected the idea of lowering wages for Benue workers, despite the fact that the state pays the highest wage in the northern region and the third highest in the country, after Lagos and Rivers States.
The Governor, who expressed concern that the state’s wage bill contributes significantly to the government’s financial difficulties, stated that adjusting salaries would be unreasonable given the difficult times and the country’s inflationary rate.
During an appearance on Journalist’ Hangout, a TVC interactive program broadcast in Makurdi, the Governor stated that he had continued to prioritize the issue of salaries because the state was largely a civil service state.
He explained that he had been paying workers’ salaries consistently since January of 2018, until recently, when there was a drastic drop in revenue accruals to the country, affecting over 30 states, resulting in a two-month backlog (May and June), assuring that efforts were being made to pay the outstanding.
“I prioritize salary payment because the economy of Benue state is driven by peasant farmers and actively contributed by the civil service,” he said. So there is an issue when no salaries are paid.
“We have a large civil service because we don’t have industries like other states.” So the only industry we have is civil servants, so all you have to do is work.
“We don’t want our children to be obsolete.” We have Benue State University, the University of Agriculture, and other tertiary institutions, and thousands of our children graduate each year, so you may want to engage them from time to time.
“However, many people are likely to be unaware that Benue state pays the highest wage in the north.” Nigeria’s Benue state pays the most, followed by Lagos and Rivers.
“However, due to inflation and other factors, we have decided that we cannot even discuss salary reductions.” That is impossible because I go to markets and know how much goods and services cost in our country today. As a result, I am unable to discuss the possibility of lowering civil servant salaries.
“That was something I inherited and accepted.” And this isn’t a new problem for me; the opposition can say what they want, but it’s always been there, and I inherited it.
“Ape Aku to Akume, Suswam, and myself today. However, I have implemented a policy that no other state government has: I include the civil service union in the discussion.
“Once again, I have domesticated the PenCom law in my attempt to find a long-term solution to the pension and gratuity issue.” As of today, we have contributed more than N5 billion to PenCom.
“Recently, PenCom issued a report in which Benue State was listed as one of the five states that paid the money on time.” I believe that once we reach a certain threshold or benchmark with PenCom, we will borrow money from them to pay off our current arrears. And, to my knowledge, this is the first time that a Benue government has made genuine efforts to address the state’s pension and gratuity issues.”
