Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, addressed civil servants at the
State’s Secretariat – promising that his administration will offset the
backlog of salaries owed them by the Rotimi Amaechi’s administration.
Wike assured them that their welfare will be top on his list of
priorities, but emphasized the need for them to be patient with government
considering the daunting economic challenges occasioned by Amaechi’s
executive rascality and financial indiscipline.
The governor, who addressed the civil servants on Monday, lamented the
poor state of the Secretariat complex and promised to address the issues
militating against the effective discharge of their duties, such as:
prompt payment of salaries and a conducive working environment amongst
others.
The governor also queried the permanent secretary, Ministry of Sports for
the delay in the payment of salaries to footballers playing for SHARKS,
RIVERS ANGELS and DOLPHINS despite the release of funds by his government
over a week ago. The footballers were owed for four months by the
Amaechi’s administration.
Pensioners were not left out as the governor promised to defray the debt
owed them by his predecessor. He promised to clear all arrears owed them
by the Amaechi’s government instalmentally and further assured them of
regular payment of their pensions from the month of June. He rued a
practice whereby a governor will prefer to fritter away government funds
to the payment of pensions to senior citizens who have laboured for the
state. Pensioners in the state have been owed for months and all
entreaties by them to the Amaechi’s government fell on deaf ears. The
intermittent strikes to force the Amaechi’s government to pay them were
not efficacious. The civil servants who were moved to tears by the
governor’s pronouncements, rained encomiums on him as he directed the
Head of Service to work out modalities on how the pensioners will receive
their pensions, pronto.
Seizing the opportunity to brief the civil servants on his achievements
thus far and the blood curdling financial position of the state, Gov Wike
disclosed to them, some of the state’s assets that were sold
surreptitiously and in controversial circumstances by his predecessor
-thus necessitating the setting up of a Judicial commission of inquiry.
“We are not here to victimize anybody…We are not witch-hunting anybody
-all we want is to know the state of our assets”., he stressed.
On the dissolution of the Civil Service Commission, the governor explained
that he only acted in reliance upon the directive from the Rivers State
House of Assembly.
Speaking on the purported sack of lecturers in the Rivers State
Polytechnic, Bori, he said the alleged appointments which were done in a
hurry, was enmeshed in fraud. Therefore, all he did was to stop the entire
process as he could not decipher how a man said to be appointed in 2013 is
being given an appointment letter in April 2015 after the APC lost in the
State. The aim, he averred, is lay more burden on the finances of the
state. He could fathom the wisdom in appointing people when you are unable
or refusing to pay salaries. Furthermore, he disclosed that when the
Rector and the Chairman of the school’s governing council met with him,
the chairman accused the Rector of not saying the truth on the appointment
matter. It was on that premise he ordered the stop of the process and
asked the Rector whose credibility has been impeached on several occasions
to proceed on compulsory leave.
Nevertheless, the civil servants were chastised for compromising their
integrity during the maladministration of Former Gov. Amaechi.
The Head of Service, Barr. Samuel LongJohn, who received the governor on
his arrival at the secretariat complex, thanked him for the visit and
expressed hope that the new administration will fulfill its promises. He
described the civil servants as the engine room of any government.