LOKOJA, AUGUST 30, 2016 – The Kogi House of Assembly has summoned the committee screening the state workforce to appear before it on Thursday to explain circumstances for non-payment of genuine workers.The house issued the summon Tuesday in a resolution at plenary on resumption from recess.
This followed the adoption of a motion by Mr Sunday Shigaba (PDP- Bassa), over the outcry of hardship being experienced by civil servants in the state over non-payment of salaries.
Shigaba said the screening had become a very serious matter as civil servants from across the state were complaining of hardships.
Seconding the motion, Victor Omofaiye (PDP-Ijumu), said although the intention of the exercise was good, the process was adversely affecting everybody.
Also, Alfa Momoh-Rabiu (APC-Ankpa II) said the effect of the screening in his constituency was worrisome as even genuine workers had been denied their salaries for upward of seven months.
Momoh-Rabiu said five principals of secondary school in the constituency had been declared ghost workers by the committee, adding that attempts to intervene had not been successful.
“My people are running out of patience and I don’t want Kogi to be declared a lawless state. Something has to be done before this people take laws into their hands,’’ he said.
Majority Leader of the House, Matthew Kolawole (PDP-Kabba-Bunu), decried the practice where civil servants (genuine or otherwise) who complained to the committee were handed over to the police and detained.
“We should stop detaining complainants. If one is not a genuine staff and he is identified, his name should be removed from the pay roll and be left to go. The removal is enough punishment,” he said.
Speaker of the house, Umar Imam, said the process had brought hardship to everybody, adding that even though government had good intentions, the process had brought untold hardships to the civil servants.
“In fact, it is with great concern that the intended goodwill of the government for this exercise is turning something else.
“The committee should, therefore, be summoned to this house to explain or brief us on what is happening,’’ he said.
The motion was adopted following over-whelming voice vote by the 20 members at plenary.
