<\/p>\n
The current economic crunch would bite workers harder in Delta State, as<\/p>\n
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has declared that the state was<\/p>\n
bankrupt as such can no longer afford to pay salary regularly in the<\/p>\n
coming months.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Delta State is known for over bloated workforce with political appointees<\/p>\n
in the region of 1,500.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Governor Okowa blamed the unabated destruction of the oil and gas<\/p>\n
pipelines which has affected allocations accruing to the crisis prone<\/p>\n
state for his inability to pay salaries on time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The governor dropped the bombshell at a public forum with stakeholders on,<\/p>\n
\u201cCreating A Peaceful Atmosphere for the Development of Delta State and the<\/p>\n
Niger Delta Region,\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe larger Nigerian government has been in financial crisis over<\/p>\n
dwindling oil prices. Increased production would have helped cushion the<\/p>\n
impact but instead we are faced with destruction of oil assets.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cDealing with dwindling oil prices and destruction of oil assets, we are<\/p>\n
now producing just half of our quota. And we are all really worried<\/p>\n
because of the greater effect is on Delta State. Before now we receive up<\/p>\n
to N20 billion monthly, but what we have now is so low. Last time we got<\/p>\n
N3.4 billion. Last month what we received has dropped to N3 billion. We<\/p>\n
now get 1\/7th of what we use to have.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201d The governor said, going by the current financial position, the state<\/p>\n
was no longer in a position to pay salaries regularly just as Internally<\/p>\n
Generated Revenue, IGR, has also nosedived. \u201cWe met a wage bill of N7.4<\/p>\n
billion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2019Our workforce has been unchanged. With biometrics and rationalization,<\/p>\n
we trimmed that to about N6.8 billion. With the situation, we have in our<\/p>\n
hands; we are not in position to pay workers regularly anymore.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we produce our normal volumes, we won\u2019t have it this bad. We have had<\/p>\n
to reduce support to the councils. And apart from poor income from<\/p>\n
Federation Account, IGR has also gone down because money is not<\/p>\n
circulating.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI do know that we were receiving reasonable Pay As You Earn, PAYE of up<\/p>\n
to N1.5bn and N1.6bn monthly. That has gone down. We should realize<\/p>\n
there\u2019s a challenge. Political office holders, traditional rulers should<\/p>\n
build peace. Delta State has been on the news for the wrong reasons and<\/p>\n
that\u2019s not where we want to be\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But the governor has come under scathing criticisms as respondents have<\/p>\n
accused the governor of not setting his priorities right and require<\/p>\n
prudence in the resources management and place priorities in the things<\/p>\n
that matter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The current economic crunch would bite workers harder in Delta State, as Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has declared that the state was bankrupt as such can no…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n