<\/p>\n
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, addressed civil servants at the<\/p>\n
State’s Secretariat – promising that his administration will offset the<\/p>\n
backlog\u00a0 of salaries owed them by the Rotimi Amaechi’s administration.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wike assured them that their welfare will be top on his list of<\/p>\n
priorities, but emphasized the need for them to be patient with government<\/p>\n
considering the daunting economic challenges occasioned by Amaechi’s<\/p>\n
executive rascality and financial indiscipline.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The governor, who addressed the civil servants on Monday, lamented the<\/p>\n
poor state of the Secretariat complex and promised to address the issues<\/p>\n
militating against the effective discharge of their duties, such as:<\/p>\n
prompt payment of salaries and a conducive working environment amongst<\/p>\n
others.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The governor also queried the permanent secretary, Ministry of Sports for<\/p>\n
the delay in the payment of salaries to footballers playing for SHARKS,<\/p>\n
RIVERS ANGELS and DOLPHINS despite the release of funds by his government<\/p>\n
over a week ago. The footballers were owed for four months by the<\/p>\n
Amaechi\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pensioners were not left out as the governor promised to defray the debt<\/p>\n
owed them by his predecessor. He promised to clear all arrears owed them<\/p>\n
by the Amaechi\u2019s government instalmentally\u00a0\u00a0 and further assured them of<\/p>\n
regular payment of their pensions from the month of June. He rued a<\/p>\n
practice whereby a governor will prefer to fritter away government funds<\/p>\n
to the payment of pensions to senior citizens who have laboured for the<\/p>\n
state. Pensioners in the state have been owed for months and all<\/p>\n
entreaties by them to the Amaechi\u2019s government fell on deaf ears. The<\/p>\n
intermittent strikes to force the Amaechi\u2019s government to pay them were<\/p>\n
not efficacious. The civil servants who were moved to tears by the<\/p>\n
governor’s pronouncements, rained encomiums on him as he\u00a0 directed the<\/p>\n
Head of Service to work out modalities on how the pensioners will receive<\/p>\n
their pensions, pronto.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Seizing\u00a0 the opportunity to brief the civil servants on his achievements<\/p>\n
thus far and the blood curdling financial position of the state, Gov Wike<\/p>\n
disclosed to them, some of the state’s\u00a0 assets that were sold<\/p>\n
surreptitiously and in controversial circumstances\u00a0 by his predecessor<\/p>\n
-thus necessitating the setting up of a Judicial commission of inquiry.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“We are not here to victimize anybody…We are not witch-hunting anybody<\/p>\n
-all we want is to know the state of our assets\u201d., he stressed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On the dissolution of the Civil Service Commission, the governor explained<\/p>\n
that he only acted in reliance upon the directive from the Rivers State<\/p>\n
House of Assembly.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking on the purported sack of lecturers in the Rivers State<\/p>\n
Polytechnic, Bori, he said the alleged appointments which were done in a<\/p>\n
hurry, was enmeshed in fraud. Therefore, all he did was to stop the entire<\/p>\n
process as he could not decipher how a man said to be appointed in 2013 is<\/p>\n
being given an appointment letter in April 2015 after the APC lost in the<\/p>\n
State. The aim, he averred, is lay more burden on the finances of the<\/p>\n
state. He could fathom the wisdom in appointing people when you are unable<\/p>\n
or refusing to pay salaries. Furthermore, he disclosed that when the<\/p>\n
Rector and the Chairman of the school’s governing council met with him,<\/p>\n
the chairman accused the Rector of not saying the truth on the appointment<\/p>\n
matter. It was on that premise he ordered the stop of the process and<\/p>\n
asked the Rector whose credibility has been impeached on several occasions<\/p>\n
to proceed on compulsory leave.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the civil servants were chastised for compromising their<\/p>\n
integrity during the maladministration of Former Gov. Amaechi.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Head of Service, Barr.\u00a0 Samuel LongJohn, who received the governor on<\/p>\n
his arrival at the secretariat complex, thanked him for the visit and<\/p>\n
expressed hope that the new administration will fulfill its promises. He<\/p>\n
described the civil servants as the engine room of any government.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, addressed civil servants at the State’s Secretariat – promising that his administration will offset the backlog\u00a0 of salaries owed them by the Rotimi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n