ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State Government has said it was not responsible for the delay in the payment of last month’s salaries of council employees.
The denial came just as the government inaugurated a 12-member committee to look into the demands of the immediate past councillors who served in the eight LGAs including alleged unpaid furniture allowances.
Speaking at a meeting with the former councillors, under the aegis of the Restoration Councillors Forum in Yenagoa, Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, explained that the delay was caused by insufficient funds.
Ewhrudjakpo in a statement on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, specifically said that the state government was looking for ways to assist four of the councils to pay their June salaries.
He said contrary to rumours, the state government had not and would not tamper with council funds for any reason, adding that the present administration rather supports them financially on a monthly basis.
According to him, some of the councils currently find themselves in tight financial circumstances due to high salary wage bills and servicing of loan facilities.
He said: “I’m the one interacting with the local government chairmen. So I know what they are passing through. As I talk, Ogbia, Nembe, Sagbama and Ekeremor are all in negative.
“In fact, we are trying to look for somewhere to enable them to get funds to pay their salaries and other statutory obligations. Right now, part of the councils’ burden is the car loan they collected for their present councillors.”
Addressing the former councillors, the deputy governor expressed displeasure at their approach in making their demands, including threatening to shut down the office of the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Community Development.
While stressing the need for dialogue, Ewhrudjakpo reminded them that the unpaid arrears of allowances were not owed by the state government but by the various councils.
He, however, assured them that the government would play a role to ensure the settlement of the issues agitating their minds.
To this end, he directed the committee to determine what each was owing the former councillors and turn in its report next week Tuesday for deliberations on how to liquidate the debt.
Earlier in their separate presentations on behalf of the Restoration Councillors Forum, Mr Believe Ezekiel, Mr Tonkumo Igoniware and Mrs Joyce West, appealed to the state government to look into their plight, claiming that they were being owed furniture and other allowances while in office.
The former councillors, who thanked the deputy governor for granting them audience, said they had to take their case to the state government in view of the current hardship facing them.