RE- PARASTATALS SALARY ISSUES AND ABIA STATE: MATTERS ARISING
~~~~~~ By Kennedy Onyenma
The challenges arising from non-payment of workers’ salaries in Nigeria are horrendous. Hardly is there any state, in Nigeria, without allegations of indebtedness. The case of Abia state is just as troubling, though, with some moral elements that make for fluid narrative.
In Zamfara state, for instance, it is alleged that the state has never implemented 18,000 minimum wage. While in Benue State they accused the governor of disregarding backlogs of unpaid salary accepting to pay from 2018.In oil rich Rivers State, Some pensioners are allegedly owed arrears of pension just as agencies like RSSDA and few others are allegedly owed for over a period of 2 years. In the very wealthy Lagos state, just recently, Governor Ambode, while addressing organized labour during the just concluded May 1st (workers) celebration, struggled to exonerate himself from allegations of indebtedness to Lagos civil servants. Also in the South East, Ebonyi state, in particular, is accused of paying only the basic salary of workers leaving out the allowances and incentives. What about Imo State…?
No doubt the preponderance of labour disputes, with the government, are not far from issues relating to workers’ wages. It is indeed a national emergency! Notwithstanding President Buhari’s attempt to provide reprieve through bailout funds, the issues of non-payment of salaries still lingers.
Regardless, Abia State indebtedness to her workers, when compared to other states of the federation, is underscored by relative subtleties.
For example, it is on record that the government of Dr Ikpeazu has not faulted in payment of salaries of the civil servants. The ‘core’ civil servants if you like. He ensures that their salaries and entitlement are paid promptly. It has not also been disputed that subventions to the parastatals and Agencies are not released monthly. What is in dispute, surprisingly, is what the managers of those parastatals do with their subventions plus the internally generated revenue, hence are unable to pay her workers’ salaries!
An objective mind will agree that the issues of Pension arrears resulted from underlying economic contraptions that are not, in any way, traceable to Dr Okezie Ikpeazu nor peculiar to Abia State, call it a National imbroglio -you are not mistaken. The panacea to the Pension challenge is to re-design a, redemptive, financial plan that will be sustainable and dependable. An overhaul of the retirement portfolio: plan, procedure and compensation structure, will be instructive. While installment pay, already canvased by the government of Abia state, will be sustained.
In the case of Secondary school teachers, the governor has repeatedly admitted that he overrated his government’s capacity to shoulder the responsibility of the junior and senior secondary teachers out of sheer humanness. In his words, “I must also confess that I have a problem with secondary school teachers because I owe them …the major problem is that we took much more than we can bite…we were supposed to unbundle the junior secondary school teachers because they are under UBEC. In other states, they are paid by local governments but we took them up thinking that our fortune could carry so that we can allow more money in the local government system for them to do some projects”. How forthright could a leader be ! His intentions are unambiguous, nevertheless, he still took responsibility of his miscalculation.
.
An objective mind will agree that the issues of Pension arrears resulted from underlying economic contraptions that are not, in any way, traceable to Dr Okezie Ikpeazu nor peculiar to Abia State, call it a National imbroglio -you are not mistaken. The panacea to the Pension challenge is to re-design a, redemptive, financial/funding plan that will be sustainable and dependable. An overhaul of the retirement portfolio:method, procedure and compensation structure, will be instructive. While installment pay, already canvased by the government of Abia state will go a long way to cushion the hardship our aged pensioners(including my parents) are going through.
In a well-articulated exposition on issues of the non-payment of parastatals salary in Abia State, the cerebral Finance commissioner, Mr Obinna Oriaku, x-rayed the dynamics of a government, vis-à-vis the conflict of relative sentiment and sound judgment. Foremost in the readers mind could be that non-payment of salary, by some state governments, may seem intractable, but it is not insurmountable,especially, in the case of Abia State, thanks to the proaction of the visionary governor and his Finance manager.It will indeed be preposterous for anybody to believe that a responsible government will chose to subject his citizen to suffering and penury.
The Nigerian system ironically thrives on an effete and complicated structure that cannot easily be salvaged just by a whim. It will take a profound thinker and a pragmatic planner to maneuver such a befuddled system like ours. Today Lagos state is reference point, of a virile economy and sustainable development, owing to her dexterity and knack to follow due process. One should be optimistic that given a genial environment Dr Victor Ikpeazu will deliver on all his promises because he possesses the requisite credential of an achiever.
It will take the combination of rugged will and courage to drive the sustainable policy needful to enthrone fiscal responsibility and prudence, especially, in the civil service.It has never come easily.Such policies must therefore be deliberate, without recourse to political solicitude, but solely propitious to the masses.
Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu understands the foregoing when he insists that the managers of the parastatals and Agencies must be responsible and accountable. His stern insistence on probity and accountability will, in the long-run, benefit majority of the workforce to the extent that government entities will be self-sufficient with or without subventions from the government.
Professor Ikonne’s ABSU and Dr Agbazuere’s ASPIMS are therefore notable models to emulate.
Wednesday, 8 May 2019
Press Release
May 7, 2019
EFCC Should Stop This Witch-Hunt Against Saraki
1. We have noted a statement issued yesterday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in reaction to a news story published by a national newspaper, based on the letter written by the commission to the Kwara State Government in which it demanded for all details of salaries, allowances, estacode or any other entitlement enjoyed by Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, the President of the Senate, during his tenure as Governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2011.
2. While we have kept quiet over the series of letters sent to various institutions where Dr. Saraki had served or is serving in which the commission stated that it is conducting various investigations, we are compelled to make our positions known on the less than noble and patriotic objectives behind these investigations because we believe it is a mere witch-hunt exercise, aimed at settling scores, laced with malicious and partisan motives.
3. We will first make clarifications to put a lie to some of the claims made by the EFCC in the statement issued yesterday. The EFCC claimed that “the commission’s letter to the Kwara State Government House, which sought an inquest into Saraki’s earnings as the state Governor, from 2003 to 2011 was dated Friday, April 26, 2019, predating his announcement as IHRC ambassador at large which came on Sunday, April 28, 2019 with two clear days”. It should be noted that the IHRC letter informing the Senate President of his appointment is dated March 16, 2019, that is about 40 days before the EFCC wrote its letter conveying the investigations to Kwara State Government House. In fact, the media team of the Senate President held on to the announcement of the appointment for several weeks so that we could do due diligence on it.
4. At this point, we need to remind members of the public that Dr. Saraki’s tenure as Kwara State Governor has been investigated several times since his last months in Office in 2010 till date. In fact, at a point, as incumbent Governor, he voluntarily waived his immunity and submitted to investigation and yet nothing was found against him. Also, members of the public should be reminded that during the proceedings of his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) between 2015 and 2018, it became clear that the evidence relied upon was from investigations conducted by the EFCC on his tenure as Governor and that is why the lead witness for the prosecution was an EFCC agent, Michael Wetkas. Yet, the CCT in its judgement dismissed the 16 charges filed against Dr. Saraki and that verdict was upheld by the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court.
5. This new investigation into his activities as Governor of Kwara State is a repeat performance. The EFCC is fishing for evidence that they did not get in the past investigations which has spanned almost nine years. However, we need to remind the Commission that Dr. Saraki is not an outgoing Governor. Since 2011, tens of governors have been in and out of our various State Houses. Like wise, hundreds of Senators and Representatives have been in and out of the National Assembly. To single out one individual for persistent investigation can only be logically and plausibly interpreted to be a witch-hunt. This is definitely no fight against corruption. It is a battle waged against a ‘political enemy’. It is a ‘label to damage’ plot.
6. Not satisfied with the reports submitted by its various teams which worked on the Saraki case in Ilorin and Lagos, the EFCC constituted a fresh team to investigate the Office of the Senate President and despatched another letter late last week to the Clerk of the Senate signed by Mohammed Umar Abba, Director of Operations, in which it requested for the following: “the Certified True Copies of the following: i) All Cash Books, Payment Vouchers, Contract Award Letters, Evidence of Contract Bidding, Agreement and Certificate of Contract Completion from 2015 to date. ii) Certified True Copies of all Financial Retirement made within the same period. iii) Any other information that may assist the Commission in its investigation”.
7. We observed that this type of letter was only written to the Office of the Senate President and not to both chambers of the National Assembly. Also, it is the first time such a letter is written to the office of the Senate President at the twilight of the tenure of the National Assembly indicating hostile investigation along these lines. None of his predecessors got such ‘exclusive’ treatment in which their office was investigated by state officials seeking to nail them at all cost. What EFCC does not know is that all the issues they are seeking to probe in the office of the Senate President are handled by the National Assembly Management, that is the bureaucracy of the federal legislature. The Senate President has nothing to do with such issues. However, in the eagerness and desperation to nail Dr. Saraki, they ignored even the basic facts upon which the entire investigation rests.
8. Some people who have called Dr. Saraki about the EFCC statement have wondered whether this is the Commission’s way of settling scores by blaming the non-confirmation of its acting chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, on the leadership of the Senate. For those who reason in this direction, our response has always been that the decision not to clear Magu was not a personal issue between both men. It was an institutional decision which was taken on a day that the public freely follows the proceedings through live coverage on television. This was done to avoid accusations that some people seized the process to deliberately deny Mr. Magu fair hearing.
9. Let it be known that the usual claim by the EFCC that its actions were directed against corrupt elements does not apply to Dr. Saraki because he is a man who at every point in his public service life has sought to institute transparency and accountability in governance. Dr. Saraki has always worked to promote transparency in governance in all the places he had held public office. For example, as Governor of Kwara State, he waived his immunity to enable his regime be probed and introduced the Price Intelligence Unit, the first by any state. This unit reduced leakages in government revenues. The idea was later adopted by the Federal Government as it became Bureau of Public Procurement(BPP).
10. Kwara State under his governorship was the first state to be rated by Fitch, the global rating agency which affirmed its National Long term rating at AA-(minus) and ratings of B+ in public finance transparency. In 2006, the EFCC under Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in a report presented before the Senate gave Kwara State under his tenure a clean bill of health, alongside five other states. At the end of his tenure in 2011, the anti- corruption agency did not find any reason to invite him for any questioning. It was more than a year after he left office when he moved the controversial motion calling for investigation into fuel subsidy that the EFCC first invited him for investigation and nothing came out of that effort. Again, Dr. Saraki in his first term in the Senate was the one who through a motion on the floor exposed the biggest fraud in the country then. That is the oil subsidy scam. Such a person can definitely not be said to be a corrupt element.
11. There is need to once again put it on record that the Eighth Senate led by Dr. Saraki has played key roles in institutionalizing the fight against corruption, which is the national objective for setting up the EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies. Among the bills passed to facilitate the fight against corruption include the National Financial Intelligence Agency Act, which, in-line with international best practices, created an autonomous Financial Intelligence Unit in the country that would allow Nigeria to have access to information relating to financial investigations in the 152 member countries of the EGMONT Group. The Senate got commendation from the Financial Intelligence Database Agency (ultrascan) for passing the NFIA Act and enabled the nation to be readmitted into the Egmont Group. In fact, the latest directive by the NFIA preventing Governors from accessing local government funds and banning banks from allowing transactions from State Joint Local Government Account without monies first reaching the accounts of the particular local government is also a derivative of the NFIA law passed by the Eighth National Assembly.
12. Another one is the Proceeds of Crime Bill which now pave the way for the country to become full member of the Financial Task Force (FATF). South Africa was the only African country on the task force before now. The Senate also passed the Federal Audit Services Commission Bill, which is aimed at empowering the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation to ensure that MDAs comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act in the management of public funds and in the timely submission of their audited accounts for scrutiny. The bill came out of the oversight by the Senate in which it uncovered the fact that over 300 MDAs have not submitted their reports to the office of the Auditor-General in the past years. These are definitely not the acts that a corrupt element will prefer.
13. Other anti-corruption bills passed by the Eighth Senate include the Whistleblowers Protection Bill, which seeks to ensure that individuals that are in danger of reprisals in relation to whistleblower activities are protected under the law; Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act which sought to among other things identify, trace, freeze, restrain, recover, forfeit and confiscate proceeds, property and other instrumentalities of crime; Witness Protection Bill, which is geared at encouraging witnesses of crimes, especially organized crimes, terrorism or other crimes to come forward and assist government and its agencies by offering protection to witnesses willing to provide information, and evidence for the purpose of ensuring proper investigation.
14. These are more fundamental issues that can make permanent the anti-corruption war and remove it from the realm of whimsical pursuits. All these are legislative measures taken by the Eighth Senate led by Dr. Saraki to make the EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies more efficient, and generally, in aid of the fight against corruption.
15. It is to the credit of the Senate President and his colleagues in the Eighth National Assembly that there has not been any case of bribery scandal or misappropriation in the procurement process. Dr. Saraki promised more transparency on his inauguration as Senate President and the Eighth National Assembly has promoted transparency tenets in which the full details of its budget are now available for public scrutiny. The engagement of the Eighth Senate with the public in the process of conception, drafting and passage of bills are unprecedented.
16. Dr. Saraki led a senate where the leadership do not get involved in contract awards. It has initiated public hearing as part of the process for annual appropriations bill passage and has helped to make the legislative institution more responsive to the yearnings of the ordinary people.
17. While we do not wish to obstruct the EFCC in the performance of its tasks, we reiterate our position that the Commission should be professional, ethical, transparent and consistent. It cannot be deemed professional when the agency is not consistent in the application of its rules and the laws to all cases and individuals. The recent onslaught against the Senate President by the anti-graft Agency is definitely a case of different laws for different folks.
End
Signed
Yusuph Olaniyonu
Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to Senate President
May 7, 2019
EFCC Should Stop This Witch-Hunt Against Saraki
1. We have noted a statement issued yesterday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in reaction to a news story published by a national newspaper, based on the letter written by the commission to the Kwara State Government in which it demanded for all details of salaries, allowances, estacode or any other entitlement enjoyed by Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, the President of the Senate, during his tenure as Governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2011.
2. While we have kept quiet over the series of letters sent to various institutions where Dr. Saraki had served or is serving in which the commission stated that it is conducting various investigations, we are compelled to make our positions known on the less than noble and patriotic objectives behind these investigations because we believe it is a mere witch-hunt exercise, aimed at settling scores, laced with malicious and partisan motives.
3. We will first make clarifications to put a lie to some of the claims made by the EFCC in the statement issued yesterday. The EFCC claimed that “the commission’s letter to the Kwara State Government House, which sought an inquest into Saraki’s earnings as the state Governor, from 2003 to 2011 was dated Friday, April 26, 2019, predating his announcement as IHRC ambassador at large which came on Sunday, April 28, 2019 with two clear days”. It should be noted that the IHRC letter informing the Senate President of his appointment is dated March 16, 2019, that is about 40 days before the EFCC wrote its letter conveying the investigations to Kwara State Government House. In fact, the media team of the Senate President held on to the announcement of the appointment for several weeks so that we could do due diligence on it.
4. At this point, we need to remind members of the public that Dr. Saraki’s tenure as Kwara State Governor has been investigated several times since his last months in Office in 2010 till date. In fact, at a point, as incumbent Governor, he voluntarily waived his immunity and submitted to investigation and yet nothing was found against him. Also, members of the public should be reminded that during the proceedings of his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) between 2015 and 2018, it became clear that the evidence relied upon was from investigations conducted by the EFCC on his tenure as Governor and that is why the lead witness for the prosecution was an EFCC agent, Michael Wetkas. Yet, the CCT in its judgement dismissed the 16 charges filed against Dr. Saraki and that verdict was upheld by the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court.
5. This new investigation into his activities as Governor of Kwara State is a repeat performance. The EFCC is fishing for evidence that they did not get in the past investigations which has spanned almost nine years. However, we need to remind the Commission that Dr. Saraki is not an outgoing Governor. Since 2011, tens of governors have been in and out of our various State Houses. Like wise, hundreds of Senators and Representatives have been in and out of the National Assembly. To single out one individual for persistent investigation can only be logically and plausibly interpreted to be a witch-hunt. This is definitely no fight against corruption. It is a battle waged against a ‘political enemy’. It is a ‘label to damage’ plot.
6. Not satisfied with the reports submitted by its various teams which worked on the Saraki case in Ilorin and Lagos, the EFCC constituted a fresh team to investigate the Office of the Senate President and despatched another letter late last week to the Clerk of the Senate signed by Mohammed Umar Abba, Director of Operations, in which it requested for the following: “the Certified True Copies of the following: i) All Cash Books, Payment Vouchers, Contract Award Letters, Evidence of Contract Bidding, Agreement and Certificate of Contract Completion from 2015 to date. ii) Certified True Copies of all Financial Retirement made within the same period. iii) Any other information that may assist the Commission in its investigation”.
7. We observed that this type of letter was only written to the Office of the Senate President and not to both chambers of the National Assembly. Also, it is the first time such a letter is written to the office of the Senate President at the twilight of the tenure of the National Assembly indicating hostile investigation along these lines. None of his predecessors got such ‘exclusive’ treatment in which their office was investigated by state officials seeking to nail them at all cost. What EFCC does not know is that all the issues they are seeking to probe in the office of the Senate President are handled by the National Assembly Management, that is the bureaucracy of the federal legislature. The Senate President has nothing to do with such issues. However, in the eagerness and desperation to nail Dr. Saraki, they ignored even the basic facts upon which the entire investigation rests.
8. Some people who have called Dr. Saraki about the EFCC statement have wondered whether this is the Commission’s way of settling scores by blaming the non-confirmation of its acting chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, on the leadership of the Senate. For those who reason in this direction, our response has always been that the decision not to clear Magu was not a personal issue between both men. It was an institutional decision which was taken on a day that the public freely follows the proceedings through live coverage on television. This was done to avoid accusations that some people seized the process to deliberately deny Mr. Magu fair hearing.
9. Let it be known that the usual claim by the EFCC that its actions were directed against corrupt elements does not apply to Dr. Saraki because he is a man who at every point in his public service life has sought to institute transparency and accountability in governance. Dr. Saraki has always worked to promote transparency in governance in all the places he had held public office. For example, as Governor of Kwara State, he waived his immunity to enable his regime be probed and introduced the Price Intelligence Unit, the first by any state. This unit reduced leakages in government revenues. The idea was later adopted by the Federal Government as it became Bureau of Public Procurement(BPP).
10. Kwara State under his governorship was the first state to be rated by Fitch, the global rating agency which affirmed its National Long term rating at AA-(minus) and ratings of B+ in public finance transparency. In 2006, the EFCC under Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in a report presented before the Senate gave Kwara State under his tenure a clean bill of health, alongside five other states. At the end of his tenure in 2011, the anti- corruption agency did not find any reason to invite him for any questioning. It was more than a year after he left office when he moved the controversial motion calling for investigation into fuel subsidy that the EFCC first invited him for investigation and nothing came out of that effort. Again, Dr. Saraki in his first term in the Senate was the one who through a motion on the floor exposed the biggest fraud in the country then. That is the oil subsidy scam. Such a person can definitely not be said to be a corrupt element.
11. There is need to once again put it on record that the Eighth Senate led by Dr. Saraki has played key roles in institutionalizing the fight against corruption, which is the national objective for setting up the EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies. Among the bills passed to facilitate the fight against corruption include the National Financial Intelligence Agency Act, which, in-line with international best practices, created an autonomous Financial Intelligence Unit in the country that would allow Nigeria to have access to information relating to financial investigations in the 152 member countries of the EGMONT Group. The Senate got commendation from the Financial Intelligence Database Agency (ultrascan) for passing the NFIA Act and enabled the nation to be readmitted into the Egmont Group. In fact, the latest directive by the NFIA preventing Governors from accessing local government funds and banning banks from allowing transactions from State Joint Local Government Account without monies first reaching the accounts of the particular local government is also a derivative of the NFIA law passed by the Eighth National Assembly.
12. Another one is the Proceeds of Crime Bill which now pave the way for the country to become full member of the Financial Task Force (FATF). South Africa was the only African country on the task force before now. The Senate also passed the Federal Audit Services Commission Bill, which is aimed at empowering the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation to ensure that MDAs comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act in the management of public funds and in the timely submission of their audited accounts for scrutiny. The bill came out of the oversight by the Senate in which it uncovered the fact that over 300 MDAs have not submitted their reports to the office of the Auditor-General in the past years. These are definitely not the acts that a corrupt element will prefer.
13. Other anti-corruption bills passed by the Eighth Senate include the Whistleblowers Protection Bill, which seeks to ensure that individuals that are in danger of reprisals in relation to whistleblower activities are protected under the law; Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act which sought to among other things identify, trace, freeze, restrain, recover, forfeit and confiscate proceeds, property and other instrumentalities of crime; Witness Protection Bill, which is geared at encouraging witnesses of crimes, especially organized crimes, terrorism or other crimes to come forward and assist government and its agencies by offering protection to witnesses willing to provide information, and evidence for the purpose of ensuring proper investigation.
14. These are more fundamental issues that can make permanent the anti-corruption war and remove it from the realm of whimsical pursuits. All these are legislative measures taken by the Eighth Senate led by Dr. Saraki to make the EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies more efficient, and generally, in aid of the fight against corruption.
15. It is to the credit of the Senate President and his colleagues in the Eighth National Assembly that there has not been any case of bribery scandal or misappropriation in the procurement process. Dr. Saraki promised more transparency on his inauguration as Senate President and the Eighth National Assembly has promoted transparency tenets in which the full details of its budget are now available for public scrutiny. The engagement of the Eighth Senate with the public in the process of conception, drafting and passage of bills are unprecedented.
16. Dr. Saraki led a senate where the leadership do not get involved in contract awards. It has initiated public hearing as part of the process for annual appropriations bill passage and has helped to make the legislative institution more responsive to the yearnings of the ordinary people.
17. While we do not wish to obstruct the EFCC in the performance of its tasks, we reiterate our position that the Commission should be professional, ethical, transparent and consistent. It cannot be deemed professional when the agency is not consistent in the application of its rules and the laws to all cases and individuals. The recent onslaught against the Senate President by the anti-graft Agency is definitely a case of different laws for different folks.
End
Signed
Yusuph Olaniyonu
Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to Senate President
Tuesday, 7 May 2019
Special Announcement
Abia State Committee on Works, Projects and Policy Evaluation wishes to invite the following persons to appear before it to shed further light on written presentations made by their units to the committee:
1. Chairman, Abia State Civil Service Commission
2. General Manager, Abia State Signage and Advertisement Agency (ABSAA)
3. Commissioner for Public Utilities
4. General Manager, Abia State Estate Development Agency (ABSEDA)
5. Executive Chairman, Abia State Internal Revenue Service Agency (BIR)
6. General Manager and Deputy General Manager, Traffic and Indiscipline Management Agency of Abia State (TIMAAS)
7. Commissioner for Industry
8. Commissioner for Ministry of Local Government & Chieftaincy Affairs
9. Chairman, Abia State Oil Producing and Development Commission (ASOPADEC)
10. Commissioner For Agriculture
11. General Manager, Abia State Public Utilities Management Agency (APUMA)
12. General Manager & Deputy General Managers, Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA)
Date: Thursday , 9th May, 2019
Venue: Office of the Commissioner For Works, State Secretariat, Umuahia
Time: 10am prompt
All invitees are expected to come along with relevant documents related to their written presentations to the Committee. Those yet to submit written presentations are expected to do so before the close of work on Wednesday, 8th May 2019 at the Committee’s Secretariat.
Thank You.
Signed
Chief John Okiyi Kalu
Secretary to the Committee
Rt Hon. Eziuche Ubani
Chairman of the Committee
Sunday, 5 May 2019
Dear Southern Nigeria, you don't have sense!
Boko Haram is killing tens of thousands but many were recruited and absorbed into the Nigerian Army. For all intent and purposes, Boko Haram has obtained legitimacy as a part of the government.
Emirs across the North have been given the mandate to set up community policing; to help check the activities of kidnappers. The kidnappers reside with them and would form the bulk of the police.
Miyetti Allah; the parent body of Fulani Herdsmen that have unleashed terror across the Middle Belt and the South, killing tens of thousands, has just been coopted by the federal government to help fight bandits. With this singular move, the Fulani Terrorists have been given official recognition as an organ of the federal government.
The Nigerian Police in Abuja has adopted the philosophy of the Islamic Hisbah police of the Sharia States; night clubs are under siege. Effectively, Abuja is no longer a secular city but Sharia compliant.
...and there's the unproven allegation that a hundred billion has been negotiated with the kidnappers along the Abuja/Kaduna Express as future payoffs for ransoms?
Of course, proceeds from the goldmines of Northern Nigeria are retained by Northern Nigeria. Oil and Tax proceeds from Southern Nigeria are further used to finance the expansionism of Northern Nigeria. Criminality in northern Nigeria is being systematically legalized and the erstwhile non-state actors are being inducted into the mainstream.
For all intent and purposes, there is a Northern Nigerian Government in Aso Rock. I personally do not have any problem with the coming out of the closet and expanding the Northern Government. My grouse is its insistence that it is a Federal Government of Nigeria! No, that is not true; it is the Northern Government of Nigeria. Even 90% of the personnel are of northern origins anyway.
The Northern Government of Nigeria is thriving and expanding by the day; the Southern People are clueless...never mind a Southern government! The Southern Region has got her head firmly stuck in the ground; the few with their heads above ground are, stuck on Telemundo, 40 seconds and other stories. Some are even so duped into expecting The Northern Government to provide direction and development for the South! The rest chase after rats while their abode burns! And those that pretend to represent the South in the national assembly, are the most pathetic of all. The Southern Governors actually, are totally irrelevant! Insanity!!!
Dear Southern Nigeria, you don't have sense!
#thinkAgain...oh sorry; Southerners don't think!
Damn!!!
Baron Roy
Boko Haram is killing tens of thousands but many were recruited and absorbed into the Nigerian Army. For all intent and purposes, Boko Haram has obtained legitimacy as a part of the government.
Emirs across the North have been given the mandate to set up community policing; to help check the activities of kidnappers. The kidnappers reside with them and would form the bulk of the police.
Miyetti Allah; the parent body of Fulani Herdsmen that have unleashed terror across the Middle Belt and the South, killing tens of thousands, has just been coopted by the federal government to help fight bandits. With this singular move, the Fulani Terrorists have been given official recognition as an organ of the federal government.
The Nigerian Police in Abuja has adopted the philosophy of the Islamic Hisbah police of the Sharia States; night clubs are under siege. Effectively, Abuja is no longer a secular city but Sharia compliant.
...and there's the unproven allegation that a hundred billion has been negotiated with the kidnappers along the Abuja/Kaduna Express as future payoffs for ransoms?
Of course, proceeds from the goldmines of Northern Nigeria are retained by Northern Nigeria. Oil and Tax proceeds from Southern Nigeria are further used to finance the expansionism of Northern Nigeria. Criminality in northern Nigeria is being systematically legalized and the erstwhile non-state actors are being inducted into the mainstream.
For all intent and purposes, there is a Northern Nigerian Government in Aso Rock. I personally do not have any problem with the coming out of the closet and expanding the Northern Government. My grouse is its insistence that it is a Federal Government of Nigeria! No, that is not true; it is the Northern Government of Nigeria. Even 90% of the personnel are of northern origins anyway.
The Northern Government of Nigeria is thriving and expanding by the day; the Southern People are clueless...never mind a Southern government! The Southern Region has got her head firmly stuck in the ground; the few with their heads above ground are, stuck on Telemundo, 40 seconds and other stories. Some are even so duped into expecting The Northern Government to provide direction and development for the South! The rest chase after rats while their abode burns! And those that pretend to represent the South in the national assembly, are the most pathetic of all. The Southern Governors actually, are totally irrelevant! Insanity!!!
Dear Southern Nigeria, you don't have sense!
#thinkAgain...oh sorry; Southerners don't think!
Damn!!!
Baron Roy
Saturday, 4 May 2019
ABIA COMMISSIONER FOR FINANCE,OBINNA ORIAKU REVEALS WHY SOME WORKERS CAN'T GET PAID..
Press Statement
Our Position on Parastatals Salary issues
While we acknowledge that there are lingering salary issues to be cleared in Abia State, especially with parastatals and pensioners, we wish to state the following facts to clarify the distortions and present concerned members of the public with details of ongoing efforts by the Government to tackle the challenges
HMB/ABSUTH
Parastatals like the Hospital Management Board (HMB) and the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH) are institutions to which the State pays subventions on a monthly basis, these institutions generate revenue which they are supposed to use for their operations including payment of salaries of their workers.
Following a painstaking review of the operations, processes and procedures of these parastatals which are discovered to be grossly flawed, the Abia State Government was left with no other option but to wield the big hammer by dissolving their Boards last week to pave way for more efficient management team that would reposition these institutions, shield them from undue external interference and pressures and deliver on their mandates seamlessly. These steps are in addition to the series of meetings representatives of government had with the Nigeria Medical Council (NMC) and a holistic review of HMB/ABSUTH operations last month wherein it was agreed that that state government pays two months subventions every month to the institutions to help them clear the outstanding. Implementation of this agreement will commence this May. It is our sincerest hope that ABSUTH workers will seize this opportunity to call off their industrial action. It is our firm belief that after the review and implementation of the recommendations of the committee set up by the state government on these institutions, they will become more efficient and self-sustaining.
SEMB
The secondary school teachers salaries’ outstanding is due to the restructuring of the sector that has affected the Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB). It is on record that Abia is the only State in the entire federation that still manages a Junior Secondary School system that is distinct from its senior category. With the recent signing off on the review of the sector by the Governor, the Junior Secondary School system will be joined with ASUBEB as obtainable in other states of the federation and with its resultant effect on staff delineation from SEMB to ASUBEB. It is expected that this process would be completed this month and the secondary school wage bill would be easier to manage unlike what is currently on ground. The State has also concluded plans to be paying the teachers two months salaries every month effective from May allocation to clear the outstanding.
ASUBEB
This is also one of the agencies the Governor has signed off its reform. Currently, the ASUBEB headquarters staff are being paid by the State Government whereas they are staff of the local government system. Their pensions and gratuities are paid by the local government. This is a misnomer, and an aberration for them to have operated this way for years without being corrected. The Governor has also approved that their outstanding should be paid off immediately while they are realigned to the local government where they rightly belong. These processes will also be completed within the month.
ASCETA
There is a fundamental problem with the management of Abia State College of Education (Technical), Arochukwu (ASCETA) which must be addressed headlong. Student population has a lot to do with smooth running of any school, it’s the oil used in the factories for production. Sadly, ASCETA has been unfortunate in this regards. The school has about 500 students with a staff strength of about 430 workers. This is certainly not sustainable!
Recently, the State government increased their monthly subvention by over 200% from N10m monthly to N30m. However, the poor student population has continued to hinder the school from generating the much needed revenue to enable it thrive.
The State Government has set up a committee whose membership includes Prof Mkpa Agu Mkpa, former Vice Chancellor of Abia State University, to review the operations of the school with a view to making it operate optimally. We also hope to include the institution in the two-month-salaries-per-month template as the committee settles down to work.
ABIAPOLY
The extant review committee report on Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, and others, have been submitted to the Governor who has also given directives on same to the State Exco Secretariat and definite decisions will be taken next week. I can assure you that the report is holistic and it will restore the school back to its past glory. Already, the school has witnessed relative academic peace as Management has introduced some positive changes in the institution with new courses and marginal growth in student enrolment.
JUDICIARY
On the State judiciary workers, the Governor has also signed off on the report on Judiciary Reform headed by the Attorney General of the State. The implementation committee on the proposed reforms has also been constituted and will be inaugurated by next week. We expect to see a more focused and more motivated staff of the judiciary after this exercise.
PENSION PAYMENT
Let me first of all acknowledge the hard times being faced by our pensioners but also quickly reassure them that government is working hard to reduce pension outstanding in the State even as payments commenced yesterday, 2nd of May, 2019 even though April allocation is still being expected . While we disagree with the months stated by the Union as outstanding, we acknowledge that we have some months outstanding. We are working on the fundamentals that gave rise to a N450m monthly State pension obligations and N380m monthly local government pension obligations. These figures are, no doubt, very outrageous when compared to our total wage bill viz-aviz our monthly revenue including FAAC. Already, we are at the final stage of migrating to the contributory pension scheme but we must address some basic issues still.
Today, in a State where we have some pensioners earning as much as N800,000 and N470,000 monthly, we also have those earning N5,000 as pension. The Governor, with a view to ensure that the right things are done, has mandated a committee to review this situation and conduct another verification exercise after payment of two months of the outstanding.
The last verification exercise was done 3 years ago and it has become pertinent that we review our books once again. It will be recalled that during the last verification exercise, we identified a cabal that works on introducing non civil servants into the pension basket. The detection of such fraudulent inclusions will help reduce our pension obligations to what we can sustain.
Let me also quickly state that the picture being painted as if we have not paid since last year is not true as they were paid last in March (Documents attached).
Local Government Administration
The Governor has signed off on the implementation of the review report on local governments in the state. This review was initially carried out in 7 of our 17 local Governments. The next phase of this reform continues with the outstanding local governments. It is expected to bring sanity to the local govt system as ghost workers issues and those earning from two agencies were well captured
Conclusion
The present adminstration has resolved more than ever to reform/restructure the public sector management system to make it more functional and optimally effective. We only ask for support as we embark on this journey which will help redirect our state to the path of sustainable development.
One thing I can assure you all is that our Governor is determined, more than ever before, to leave Abia better than he met it.
Thank you.
-Mr Obinna Oriaku
Honorable Commissioner for Finance, Abia State
3/5/19
Our Position on Parastatals Salary issues
While we acknowledge that there are lingering salary issues to be cleared in Abia State, especially with parastatals and pensioners, we wish to state the following facts to clarify the distortions and present concerned members of the public with details of ongoing efforts by the Government to tackle the challenges
HMB/ABSUTH
Parastatals like the Hospital Management Board (HMB) and the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH) are institutions to which the State pays subventions on a monthly basis, these institutions generate revenue which they are supposed to use for their operations including payment of salaries of their workers.
Following a painstaking review of the operations, processes and procedures of these parastatals which are discovered to be grossly flawed, the Abia State Government was left with no other option but to wield the big hammer by dissolving their Boards last week to pave way for more efficient management team that would reposition these institutions, shield them from undue external interference and pressures and deliver on their mandates seamlessly. These steps are in addition to the series of meetings representatives of government had with the Nigeria Medical Council (NMC) and a holistic review of HMB/ABSUTH operations last month wherein it was agreed that that state government pays two months subventions every month to the institutions to help them clear the outstanding. Implementation of this agreement will commence this May. It is our sincerest hope that ABSUTH workers will seize this opportunity to call off their industrial action. It is our firm belief that after the review and implementation of the recommendations of the committee set up by the state government on these institutions, they will become more efficient and self-sustaining.
SEMB
The secondary school teachers salaries’ outstanding is due to the restructuring of the sector that has affected the Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB). It is on record that Abia is the only State in the entire federation that still manages a Junior Secondary School system that is distinct from its senior category. With the recent signing off on the review of the sector by the Governor, the Junior Secondary School system will be joined with ASUBEB as obtainable in other states of the federation and with its resultant effect on staff delineation from SEMB to ASUBEB. It is expected that this process would be completed this month and the secondary school wage bill would be easier to manage unlike what is currently on ground. The State has also concluded plans to be paying the teachers two months salaries every month effective from May allocation to clear the outstanding.
ASUBEB
This is also one of the agencies the Governor has signed off its reform. Currently, the ASUBEB headquarters staff are being paid by the State Government whereas they are staff of the local government system. Their pensions and gratuities are paid by the local government. This is a misnomer, and an aberration for them to have operated this way for years without being corrected. The Governor has also approved that their outstanding should be paid off immediately while they are realigned to the local government where they rightly belong. These processes will also be completed within the month.
ASCETA
There is a fundamental problem with the management of Abia State College of Education (Technical), Arochukwu (ASCETA) which must be addressed headlong. Student population has a lot to do with smooth running of any school, it’s the oil used in the factories for production. Sadly, ASCETA has been unfortunate in this regards. The school has about 500 students with a staff strength of about 430 workers. This is certainly not sustainable!
Recently, the State government increased their monthly subvention by over 200% from N10m monthly to N30m. However, the poor student population has continued to hinder the school from generating the much needed revenue to enable it thrive.
The State Government has set up a committee whose membership includes Prof Mkpa Agu Mkpa, former Vice Chancellor of Abia State University, to review the operations of the school with a view to making it operate optimally. We also hope to include the institution in the two-month-salaries-per-month template as the committee settles down to work.
ABIAPOLY
The extant review committee report on Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, and others, have been submitted to the Governor who has also given directives on same to the State Exco Secretariat and definite decisions will be taken next week. I can assure you that the report is holistic and it will restore the school back to its past glory. Already, the school has witnessed relative academic peace as Management has introduced some positive changes in the institution with new courses and marginal growth in student enrolment.
JUDICIARY
On the State judiciary workers, the Governor has also signed off on the report on Judiciary Reform headed by the Attorney General of the State. The implementation committee on the proposed reforms has also been constituted and will be inaugurated by next week. We expect to see a more focused and more motivated staff of the judiciary after this exercise.
PENSION PAYMENT
Let me first of all acknowledge the hard times being faced by our pensioners but also quickly reassure them that government is working hard to reduce pension outstanding in the State even as payments commenced yesterday, 2nd of May, 2019 even though April allocation is still being expected . While we disagree with the months stated by the Union as outstanding, we acknowledge that we have some months outstanding. We are working on the fundamentals that gave rise to a N450m monthly State pension obligations and N380m monthly local government pension obligations. These figures are, no doubt, very outrageous when compared to our total wage bill viz-aviz our monthly revenue including FAAC. Already, we are at the final stage of migrating to the contributory pension scheme but we must address some basic issues still.
Today, in a State where we have some pensioners earning as much as N800,000 and N470,000 monthly, we also have those earning N5,000 as pension. The Governor, with a view to ensure that the right things are done, has mandated a committee to review this situation and conduct another verification exercise after payment of two months of the outstanding.
The last verification exercise was done 3 years ago and it has become pertinent that we review our books once again. It will be recalled that during the last verification exercise, we identified a cabal that works on introducing non civil servants into the pension basket. The detection of such fraudulent inclusions will help reduce our pension obligations to what we can sustain.
Let me also quickly state that the picture being painted as if we have not paid since last year is not true as they were paid last in March (Documents attached).
Local Government Administration
The Governor has signed off on the implementation of the review report on local governments in the state. This review was initially carried out in 7 of our 17 local Governments. The next phase of this reform continues with the outstanding local governments. It is expected to bring sanity to the local govt system as ghost workers issues and those earning from two agencies were well captured
Conclusion
The present adminstration has resolved more than ever to reform/restructure the public sector management system to make it more functional and optimally effective. We only ask for support as we embark on this journey which will help redirect our state to the path of sustainable development.
One thing I can assure you all is that our Governor is determined, more than ever before, to leave Abia better than he met it.
Thank you.
-Mr Obinna Oriaku
Honorable Commissioner for Finance, Abia State
3/5/19
Reasons Some Abia Workers Are being Owed
ABIA STATE COMMISSIONER FOR FINANCE,OBINNA ORIAKU
REVEALS WHY SOME WORKERS CAN'T GET PAID
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