Verified workers’ve been paid –Govt
From Linus Oota, Lafia
Former Information minister and 2015 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Nasarawa State, Labaran Maku has accused Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of diverting the state’s September allocation to private pockets.
Maku alleged the governor did not pay civil servants’ salaries.
He raised the alarm in Adevi, Obi Local Government Area of the state, at the weekend, when he addressed newsmen, where he also alleged that the governor has compelled all civil servants in the state to sign September payment vouchers, without payment.
Maku described the AlMakura led-government as full of financial scandals, with anti-people policies and added that the intimidation of civil servants in the state to either sign the vouchers without salary or risk being sacked is the height of corruption and impunity ever witnessed by any government since the state was created.
“The government, through the Head of Civil Service, announced that September salaries would be paid through table payment, meaning that civil servants would be paid as soon as they are screened by whoever is responsible for it. Instead of paying them at the point of screening, as it was announced by the state government, workers were compelled to sign the PVs without being paid and, up till now, nobody is saying anything about when salaries would be paid” he alleged.
Maku, who is the national secretary of APGA noted that in any table payment, an accountant would sit and immediately any staff is verified, the accountant pays such a person.
He appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to send an investigation panel to ascertain why workers in the state were not paid.
When contacted, Commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, Abdulrahmid Kwarra, said the essence of the staff verification was to ascertain the actual number of civil servants in the state, and noted that workers who have completed their verification and confirmation have been paid their September salaries.
Kwarra, who said the state government would not join issues with Maku, added that the governor followed due process in the sale of the state assets.