Head of Service, Ondo State, ‘Dare Aragbaiye.
Toluwalope Jombo
Ondo state government has said that it has no plan to retrench or reduce the salaries of workers in the state public service despite the dwindling allocations in the face of COVID-19 pandemic.
Rather, plans are afoot to recruit 1,000 teachers to boost the educational system of the state.
The state Head of Service, ‘Dare Aragbaiye, disclosed this at a press briefing on service related issues in the state public service held at the Cocoa Conference Hall of the Governor office, Akure.
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At the meeting attended by organised labour leaders in the state, Aragbaiye equally revealed that the state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has approved the recruitment of no fewer than 1, 000 teachers, both NCE and B.Ed holders, to boost the state education system.
The HOS added that 432 workers would soon be recruited to fill personnel gaps in critical areas in the primary health care sector in the 18 local government areas of the state, even as 757 additional workers have been recruited into the state civil service.
He noted that since inception, the present administration led by governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has made regular payment of salary and pensions its priority.
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He further assured the state labour leaders and the public servants in general that government would continue to look inward to improve the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to be able to improve the welfare of workers and meet other financial obligations including adequate funding of all ongoing capital projects across the state.
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Aragbaiye particularly explained that the delay in the remittances of deductions due to Labour unions, Co-operative Societies and other bodies was occasioned by dwindling resources and therefore not unjustly withheld.
“They are paid in arrears based on the monthly allocations received by the state which is grossly inadequate to meet the wage bill of the state. For instance, a total sum of N4.20b was received as allocation for the month of April, 2020 while the wage bill amounted to N4.72b.
“It therefore means two months allocation would be required to conveniently pay 1 month salaries.
Therefore, the state in its wisdom has decided to pay Net salaries and then wait for funds to accumulate before paying/remitting the deductions. This has been the trend. This administration will prioritize the payment of deductions within the next few weeks”, the HOS stressed.
On the recent verification exercise conducted for local government workers, primary school teachers and pensioners in the 18 council areas by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Aragbaiye explained that over 41million was recovered by government.
He also revealed that there were the discovery of salaries manipulation of N4m by the Salary Control Officers of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) at Akure North LGEA out of which N1.9m has been recovered.
According to him, disciplinary actions have commenced against the officers alleged to have been involved in the fraud while several other leakages have been blocked with measures put in place to prevent future occurrence.
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The HOS said in the past three years, governor Akeredolu has kept to his promises of improved workers’ welfare, prompt payment of salaries, Training and human capacity development among several others, adding that between year 2017 and 2019, a total of 15,934 eligible officers have been promoted in the state Civil Service while another 3, 650 vacancies have been created for 2020 promotion exercise.
He noted the appointment of Permanent Secretaries/Tutors- General and the General Managers in the state has kept increasing since inception of Governor Akeredolu.
In their separate remarks at the event, the state NLC chairman, Sunday Adeleye, his JNC and TUC counterparts, Olaniyi Fabunmi, and Helen Odofin respectively applauded the government’s efforts aimed at improving welfare of workers in the state, just as they called on government to ensure quick payment of arrears of salary deductions.
