The governor of Imo state, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has suspended the Accountant-General of the State, Mrs. Stella Udogwu and orders for the arrest of the Branch-Managers of Ecobank and Access Bank over the non-payment of the November Salaries of the Local Government Workers in the State. The suspension of the Accountant-General is with immediate effect.
The governor had before now directed that the October and November Salaries of Workers in the State workforce should be paid at the same time in October. And the governor had believed that the directive was carried out accordingly, only to be told by the Leadership of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, when he attended the event to mark the 40th Year Anniversary of the Union at the Hero’s Square Owerri on November 30, 2018, that the Workers have not been paid the November Salary.
The governor who was shocked to hear that announced the immediate suspension of the Accountant-General and ordered for the arrest of the Branch-Managers of Ecobank and Access Bank said to be where the money for the salaries of the Local Government employees for the months of October and November were lodged.
The governor therefore ordered that the November and December Salaries should now be paid on December 3, 2018, since December 1st and 2nd are not working days, and equally announced N10,000 each for the workers as their Christmas bonus and N2.5m as car allowance for each of the Local Government Directors of Administration and General Services.
The governor also announced “From today hence forth, there won’t be any need for any Local Government Worker to try to convert to the Ministry to be able to get to level 17 or become a Permanent Secretary. Today, I have officially lifted the embargo on Local Government Staff getting to level 17. Hence forth, Staff of the Local Government Civil Commission will be promoted to level 17 when they are due for it”.
He continued “I had released the salaries of every Worker in Imo State since the second week of October and so if Local Government Workers are been owed, then somebody must take responsibility of it and will be dealt with according to law. This is a criminal act aimed at disgracing this government. What they do is that, they take the money and put in the bank and collect the interest.”
The governor said “An acting Accountant-General will be appointed with immediate effect and the Secretary to the State Government should direct anybody next to her to act immediately. Your salary must be released and your December Salary shall be paid immediately. All the interests from the salary kept in the bank must be collected and shared to the Local Government Workers who are the owners of the money, I order for the immediate arrest of the Branch-Managers of Ecobank and Access Bank with immediate effect”.
He continued “N2.5million has been approved for each of the Directors of Administration and General Services as vehicle allowance. They could use it to buy their vehicles themselves or the ministry can coordinate it for them. The treasurers will only be given the same when the government finishes the investigation and discover that they are not guilty of the salary fraud”.
The governor added “I consider myself very lucky that perhaps in the history of Imo State, I am the only governor leaving office and people are celebrating. I remain grateful to all of you. I thank the Leadership of NULGE for appreciating the good works of the Rescue Mission Government. For this show of gratitude, I will respond appropriately”.
In his speech, the Vice-President of NULGE for South-East, Comrade Patrick Igwe said “Imo Local Government Workers have never had it so good like this before and I believe that the only way to show their appreciation is by giving you this Award of Excellence. We are particularly appreciative of the pardon you gave to over 3000 Workers penciled down to be sacked. This is uncommon in our chequered history. When others were negotiating on how to pay N18,000 naira minimum wage, you went further to pay N20,000 and we know that once agreement is reached on the new minimum wage, you will be the first to pay. This Award is our way of saying, thank you”.
President of Imo State Chapter of NULGE, Comrade Richard Eze said the Local Government employees in the State would root for Uche Nwosu in the 2019 governorship election in the State, stating that they have no reason for an alternative.
Sam Onwuemeodo
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor