The chairman of Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, Dr Chidi Lloyd has faulted protest by some disengaged workers alleging that the Council leadership denied them of their monthly salaries.
It would be recalled that early this week, some disengaged staffs of EmohuaLGA had staged a protest to the Office of the Local Government Service Commission, to demand explanation over their delay in submission of the verification report and alleged continuous non-payment of their salaries by the council chairman, Lloyd.
The aggrieved staff of Emohua took their peaceful protest to the Rivers State House of Assembly Staff Quarters, demanding explanations over the delay in the submission of their verification report and the continued non-payment of their salaries.
The protesting workers, who carried placards with various inscriptions like, “Rivers State House of Assembly compel the Emohua council chairman to pay our salaries”, “Speaker and Honourable Members of the Assembly call Barrister Chidi Lloyd to order to pay Emohua workers their seven months’ salary” also urged for the release of the verification data.
Leader of the protesters, Nwaru Solomon, lamented that workers have been owed salaries for over seven months despite undergoing verification and being confirmed as legitimate staff of the council.
He alleged that out of over three hundred verified workers, only 17 have been paid by the council chairman, calling on the Assembly to compel the Local government chairman to pay their outstanding salaries.
Reacting to the allegations, the Emohua Council Boss, Chidi Lloyd, said the verification exercise which is ongoing in the 23 LGAs as directed by the State Governor, Fubara, is intended to track and eliminate ghost workers, fake staff, others.
The chairman explained that upon resumption in his first term, he met about 1600 staff on monthly payroll, during the verification exercise, minors were traced in the payment voucher, some persons were on dual employment, a practice that was against the civil service law.
The chairman explained also that upon resumption of duty, he met a nominal roll of over 1,600 staff, but a verification exercise carried out by the council revealed that about 989 workers are actually qualified as staff in the council.
Condemning the protesters, Lloyd said: “And I have made this explanation severally. One thing I have noticed in Nigeria is that when you fight corruption, corruption fights back. And when it does, it fights back frontally; and luckily for me, because I’m doing the right thing, I do not really bother.”
Lloyd revealed that through the verification exercise, N150 million was saved for the council in his first term, stressing that it was intended to know the exact number of workers in the LGA and not to victimise any individual.
He continued: “Now, what really tickled my fancy was that there was a man from my community, where I come from, who I know had died 10 years before I became chairman of council. He was still alive in the in the payroll.
“So, when we finished the verification exercise, luckily we engaged Sinforex. Sinforex is a consultancy firm that had done for the state. So, among the things that the consultant found out, were people on dual employments, which is contrary to the provisions of the public service rules.
Recall that I have reinstated 21 staff that went to court. So, on the average, now we have about 989 or thereabouts staff. Also recall that a lot have also retired within the period of that review. So, we are working with this tentatively pending when the report of the verification exercise will be turned in.”
In the earlier verification exercise, he said “I also found out that minors found their way into the voucher. I also found out that because of the style which they were using to pay, when once there is a mistake, for instance, you miss one figure, the salary goes into someone else’s account”.
Lloyd added the recovery has helped the council in providing dividends of democracy to the people in the area. “Our revenue now, in the worst-case scenario, is about 500 million. So, we pay salary. Our wage bill oscillates now between N350 million and below. Whatever remains, we pay recurrent expenditure. Then the rest, I plow back into capital projects.
“Within this period, I was able to give electricity to Rumuekpe. Rumuekpehas never had electricity since the person who founded that community, the 15.5-kilometer electrification shop to the eight communities of Rumuekpe, up to Omowiri. We converted our community from 11 KVA to 33.
“As I speak to you today, Emohua Local Government Area spends 20 million naira monthly in paying electricity bills for people who are consuming them at home. Those are the type of things that they like. And of course, at the end of my first term I left N495million in our council bank account”, Lloyd added.
Blessing Ibunge
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