Kogi spent N41bn on salaries, says Finance Commissioner

The Kogi State Government spent N41billion for payment of salaries of its workforce from January 2016 to date since Governor Yahaya Bello came on board.

The state Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development, Ashiru Idris, disclosed this while making the breakdown of government expenditure during the public presentation of the report of the Staff verification Appeal Committee held in Lokoja on Monday.

The commissioner commended President Muhammadu Buhari for assisting the state government to meet up with its obligation for regular payment of workers’ salaries in the state.

He expressed gratitude to Governor Yahaya Bello for the judicious utilisation of the funds accruing to the State.
The commissioner, however, used the forum to debunk insinuations from certain quarters that the state government received N50 billion from the Federal Government as bailout to settle salary arrears, describing the rumour as untrue, malicious and a calculated attempt to dent the image of government.

The chairman of the Kogi State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Onuh Edoka, who also spoke during the presentation, pleaded with the governor to temper justice with Mercy by waving some minor offences leading to the sack of many workers as a result of the outcome of the screening report.

The labour leader praised the governor’s courage to embark on the staff verification exercise, saying that one advantage of the exercise is that it has instilled high level of discipline, accountability and fair play in the civil service.

Receiving the report, Governor Yahaya Bello gave an assurance that the report will be implemented to the later, saying that the essence of the exercise was to carry a surgical operation of the monster called corruption which had led to the problem of not doing things in the right way which also had bedeviled the state in the past twenty-five years of creation of Kogi State.

The governor promised that he will temper justice with Mercy as pleaded by the organised labour in the state, adding that “those who committed grievous fraud will not be spared even if they don’t go to court, government will not relent in prosecuting them”.