By Musa Yaro, Calabar
Cross River government says it will employ the services of the Department of State Services (DSS) to conduct personnel audits.
This, it said is a deliberate effort to sanitize its payroll system as well as produce a holistic nominal roll for both state and local government services,
Otu who disclosed this when he received the leadership of the organized labor in the state
Otu expressed shocked by the increase in nominal roll, after being briefed that over 40 percent of the workforce has retired.
He maintained that the exercise which is to be conducted by the federal agency will help forestall all forms of irregularities and abnormalities noticed in the staff payroll system across the board.
A press statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Ogbeche, in Calabar, quoted the Governor, saying, “We have resolved that everybody should go to the Department of State Services for a verification and screening exercise so that if your paper has some issues, from there you can go to court.
“That will be the best for us because the exercise will ensure that biometrics and other necessary screening requirements are conducted to check all forms of irregularities and abnormalities in line with relevant service roles and other labor laws and at the end we will know the actual staff strength in Cross River.
“Personnel audit has been a little bit of a tricky area.
So, we need to put our heads together to produce a holistic payroll system and I strongly solicit your maximum cooperation.
“When I assumed office, I was informed that so many persons have retired but when I now looked at the payroll, I saw even more staff than last month. I was wondering, that if so many have retired as recorded, why should we now have such a humongous number in the payroll with attendant huge wage will?
Reacting to the issue of employment which the Organised Labour pointed out as a concern, the governor said, ” We are currently looking at the gap analysis, which is why we had to suspend all forms of employment so that in the end, the government will only employ based on needs because, with our scarce resources, we must spend it judiciously.
Otu who had earlier in a meeting with the staff promised to pay all promotion arrears of civil servants, also joined the labor bodies in condemning the unnecessary engagement of consultants in the state payment systems.
“I do not support consultancy services too much in governance except in key areas where we may have a bit of challenge.
“The issue of paying money first to a consultant who in turn pays to government is uncalled for and must end,” the governor stressed.
On the issue of subsidy removal and palliative plans by the government, he disclosed, “I started the campaign for the removal of fuel subsidy since 2003 because it created a lot of briefcase millionaires in our society who did not work for anything but sit at the comfort of their homes to become millionaires,”
The governor expressed joy that President Bola Tinubu who also saw the need to sanitize the oil sector deemed it fit to remove fuel subsidy that has been a major economic drain in the country, adding, “I know that each state has its peculiarity that is why we need to synergize so that whatever palliative we put in place will be such that will mitigate and ameliorate the sufferings of our people.
“I know some states have proposed salaries increment which I am not against but my problem is the value such increment will have in the economy because goods and services have already skyrocketed because of fuel hikes occasioned by subsidy removal,” Otu argued.
Assuring that their interest and welfare will be attended to during the subsidy regime, the governor explained, “In the economic council meeting, a lot of issues were raised which I had to speak on your behalf even without having the necessary details to buttress my point.
“I defended the course very well as a comrade with a labor background also.
“So, we need to properly work out a system that will be beneficial to all the citizenry, not only the civil servants because everyone bears this brunt.
“I know that the pains will come, that is why we are appealing to our people to be patient with us as we fashion out ways of mitigating the hardship.
“We have to endure this pain for us to correct the error as well as build a sustainable economy for posterity.
While thanking them for the efforts they invested in the just concluded elections, the governor acknowledged that apart from the fact that they came out in their numbers to vote for him, they also showed their strength financially which makes them a stakeholder in his administration and promised to consult them in a bid to ensuring that their interest is protected.
Earlier as content in their 21-point position paper presented to the governor and read by the State Chairman of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Olayi Gregory, on behalf of his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, solicited the consideration for promotion of teachers to grade level 17 as it is obtainable in the federal service to boost the morale of teachers in the service.
The organized labor also advised the governor to reduce the cost of governance by checking unnecessary waste thereby channeling such resources to useful ventures as well as fashion out measures to bridge the gap between Directors and Permanent Secretaries by approving grade level 17 for directors as applicable in other states of the federation, amongst other demands.
