Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa
By Oye Chijioke.
The Delta State Government of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa has appeal to the 800 dismissed workers to bear the loss for it is a hard policy intended to correct the abnormalities and corruption embedded at the process of the employment which also puts the state in the risk of not been able to pay workers’ salaries. Dr. Okowa disclosed this when he was addressing elected members of the state house of assembly recently, he urged the honourable members of the state house of assembly to explain to the affected people of their constituencies because government understands their pains and the youth development fund paid to certain youths in the local governments was scrapped off in order to recover fund and to ensure that only those working will get paid.
The State Governor noted that the state workforce as at May stood at over 60,000 persons with a monthly personnel cost of #7,437,940,015.38 including the #678million the state uses to augment local government council for the payment of primary school teachers’ salaries, he further told the speaker Rt.Hon. Monday Igbuya and the people of Delta state that 2015 budget of #409billion as passed is no longer realistic in the wake of current realities which shows that the state expected revenue is now far below what was projected, so there is need for review, adding that it is obvious that the state will run a monthly deficit of about #2billion and thee is need to borrow fund to pay salaries and the running cost of government, the state prior to Okowa’s assumption of office has been hard to put to pay workers’ salaries, government agencies, ministries and government departments have been running at half steam due to the inability of the state to provide money for their operations.
Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa stressed that the staffs of most local government in the state have been on strike due to non-payment of salaries, adding that this is the dilemma facing this administration as we strive to deliver the campaign promise of prosperity for all Deltans, and the severity of this financial crises and the government response to it will shape the future of the state.
