Taraba Government on Monday said it had sacked eight
directors over allegation bordering on misconduct, even as workers give
strike notice.
Addressing newsmen on Monday in Jalingo, Alhaji Bello Yero
and Mr Yakubu Agbaizo, Permanent Secretary, Bureau for Local Government
and Chieftaincy Affairs, and Executive Secretary, State Primary
Education Board, respectively, said the development had caused delay in
payment of salaries.
They told Journalists that the sacked officials were being
responsible for the delay in the payment of salaries of some local
government workers, teachers and pensioners in the state.
Taraba State has a workforce of 16,500.
Workers in the state had issued a warning to the state
government that they will embark on strike this Thursday, if their
outstanding eight salary arrears were not paid.
They spoke at the maiden edition of “Face the Press’’
programme, an initiative of Mr Emmanuel Bello, Senior Special Assistant
to Gov. Darius Ishaku on Public Affairs, to enhance interaction between
government and the media.
Bello alleged that some directors of finance, clerks,
cashiers and some officials in the local government councils, colluded
with the 16 local government councils to short change junior workers.
“Following some discoveries, government embarked on
biometric verification exercise to ascertain the actual number of staff
on its payroll.
“Critical stakeholders including the organised labour were contacted and they have endorsed the exercise,’’Bello said.
According to him, when the exercise began, some directors of
finance, clerks and cashiers who were benefiting from the system, began
moves to frustrate the exercise including mobilising some staff to come
to the bureau to protest.
“As we speak, many of those cleared by the exercise have
been paid, those still complaining are those with BVN issues or
different names on their documents which we are working hard to
resolve,” he said.
According to Bello, the government has sacked eight
directors so far over the matter while other necessary action will be
taken to serve as a deterrent to others.
Also speaking, Agbaizo accused some education secretaries,
directors of finance and other senior officials of the board of short
changing primary school teachers in the state.
The secretary explained that over 1,200 teachers were
illegally recruited before he assumed office in 2015, leading to an
increase in wage bill of the board to over N734 million monthly.
“We are currently doing biometric exercise to ascertain the actual number of teachers.
“Those who were successfully screened and have collected
their salaries, we are working hard to sort out those with BVN issues
and address them,” he said.
According to him, some of them went as far as establishing ghost schools with ghost teachers in areas with difficult terrains.
Agbaizo expressed confidence that all the abnormalities
would be corrected by the time the ongoing biometric exercise was
completed.
The workers’ union is also demanding the removal of
consultant on ground of gross incompetence in handling salary issues of
the state.
Workers in the state had in 2016, embarked on a six week strike over the non-implementation of a new salary structure for workers.
(NAN)
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