01 MAY, 2012.
My dear workers of Bayelsa State, on the 14th of February this year, I
assumed office as THE N0. 1 WORKER of our dear State. The people of
Bayelsa State voted massively to put us here to serve them and it is one
mandate we do not take lightly.
Let me therefore once more through you as workers thank all the
good people of our dear state for the support and solidarity shown to
me, before, during and after my election and now as Governor.
Similarly, I want to thank you the hardworking, committed and very
dedicated workers of this state for the wonderfull support and
co-operation we have received from you since our assumption into office.
You will recall in my inaugural address, I promised a paradigm shift in
the governance culture of our state. And you all have been witnesses to
some of the actions we have taken thus far as a government to
Re-organise the governance structure in the state as well as to
strengthen the capacity of the public service to be able to deliver on
our restoration agenda.
As you are well aware, there is very little we can do to bring about
the much talked about restoration that we promise our people without the
co-operation of you the workers.
The workers of this state, particular the civil servants are the
engine room of this government. You are the ones that hold the key to
the successful implementation of the restoration agenda because you are
the ones that are directly saddled with the responsibility of
implementing the policies of government. And as your governor and also
the No. 1 Worker of the state, I want to personally appeal to you
to
continue to co-operate with us just as you have clearly done since our
assumption into office, to continue to support our effort and policies,
so that together we can collectively salvage our dear state.
As
you are well aware, one of the problems my administration inherited on
assumption of duty a little over two months ago, is the problem of
over-bloated salary bill. The monthly salary bill of the State increased
from N1.7billion in 2010 to N3.5billion in 2011 and to
N5.4billion
in February 2012 when this administration began. With a salary bill of
N5.4billion a month, Bayelsa State was second to only Lagos in wage bill
across the length and breadth of Nigeria.
Our preliminary
investigations indicate that the reported high wage bill is due not to
commensurate high level of employees but to sharp practices perpetrated
over the years by an apparent cartel of public
servants who continue
to milk the state dry of needed development fund. The sharp practices
include the addition of non-salary items in the monthly salary bill;
inclusion of ghost workers; falsification of salary grade levels;
inclusion of retired and dead workers in the payroll; public servants
earning salaries in more than one government ministry, department, or
agency; etc.
In order to address this chronic problem, my
administration embarked on a number of measures notable among which are
the following: Conduct of supervised payment of selected MDAs in the
months of February and March, 2012. In one of such MDAs, we were able to
reduce the monthly wage bill by about N170 million for February and
N130
million in March, 2012.
• Beginning from April,
2012, government has directed that MDAs should be directly responsible
for the preparation of their respective nominal roll and payment
vouchers, as well as the payment of monthly salaries to their staff.
• A staff verification and audit committee has been set up to
review and clean-up nominal rolls submitted by the respective MDAs in
the State. At the end of the staff audit and verification exercise, the
information obtained would be matched with the biometric data that had
been captured earlier to come up with an updated employee data base.
• A similar committee has also been set up to undertake the same
exercise in the 34 development areas (G34) with a view to sanitising
the system at that level.
• In addition, I have established
whistleblower hotlines where you can report suspicious matters and
conduct of any person in government as well as general security matters
in the state.
The numbers are 08160000072, 08160000074 and 08160000079
Also e-mail lines will be established very soon for submission of such
complains. In our subsequent messages to you we will inform you of the
details of the operations of this novel idea.
My dear workers
of Bayelsa State, government is not unmindful of the temporary hardships
that legitimate staff of the State Government had to bear in the last
two months. Ironically, even when salary releases are signed in a timely
manner, actual receipts of salary by workers in
the State appear to
be delayed. In a number of instances, some workers get paid almost one
or two months after their counterparts in some ministries, departments,
or agencies of government. This situation which is unacceptable is due
largely to bureaucratic hiccups in the public service, as well as banks
and banking related problems. For example, I signed the release of April
salaries for workers in the
State last week before travelling for
the South-South Economic Summit at Asaba. I hope that the Commissioner
of Finance has concluded arrangements to ensure that you get paid before
the end of the week.
We appreciate your understanding and the
sacrifices you have made thus far despite the obvious inconveniences
associated with the staff verification exercise and supervised salary
payment. We should appreciate that this sacrifice is necessary ,though
temporary ,in order to ensure that those who milk our State dry and make
development of infrastructure impossible do not succeed in their
nefarious plans.
We are determined, as an administration, to go
after them; and together, we shall win this war of chronic corruption
in the State civil service. As we do this, we wish to assure legitimate
and law abiding public servants of our unalloyed resolve to ensure that
salaries are paid promptly; and that staff are properly disciplined and
motivated for greater productivity.
To this end, we wish to assure workers in the public service of Bayelsa State that this administration shall ensure that all
legitimate demands relating to payment of arrears of personnel
emoluments; provision of office and residential accommodation; payment
of gratuities and pension; as well as training and staff development; to
mention but few ,shall be pursued with renewed vigor.
Already,
provisions have been made in the 2012 budget for the construction of
three secretariat annexes to alleviate office accommodation while
construction work on the Civil Service Training Institute will commence
in the course of the year.
My dear workers of Bayelsa State, it
is no longer news that we inherited an empty treasury. Whereas we
inherited an asset base of about N7billion, our liabilities are over
N200billion. However, it is no longer time to cry over spilled milk. We
must brace up and face the enormous challenges before us as a people,
head on. This is not the time for politicking and political posturing to
the disadvantage of
the development of the state. This is the time
to build our State and restore its past glory. All hands therefore must
be on deck. With your support and those of all Bayelsans at home and
abroad, we will get there.
Your partnership and sacrifice is
most sought after at this crucial time, perhaps more than any other time
in the history of our dear state. I want to assure you that your
government will do anything and everything to ensure that your welfare
is adequately taken care of. We will consult with your leaders in the
labour union to see how best we can partner with them to address all
issues pertaining to your welfare.
We thank you for your
co-operation especially in our quest to deal with the issue of ghost
workers in the system and also the huge wage bill that we have had to
grapple with.
In conclusion, let me once again thank you all
for your support and co-operation. Going forward, I am confident that
the future is bright for the workforce in Bayelsa State. The steps we
are about to take with your co-operation will unleash a new beginning
for our dear state. We will stimulate the State economy and increase
employment
opportunities for our people.
I thank you most sincerely for your kind attention and may God bless our land and the people of Bayelsa State.
(1). To showcase the aggressive developmental strides initiated by Governor Henry Seriake Dickson in 365 days. (2). To underscore the fact that the Restoration Administration has entrenched peace and security in the State, and therefore created an enabling environment to attract investments in tourism, agriculture, health, education, physical infrastructure and other sectors capable of catalyzing growth.
No comments:
Post a Comment