• Drums support for David Mark
• Appeal Court declares APGA, LP winners in assembly polls
From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State Government has asked its workforce to brace up for economic challenges, saying the practice of augmenting monthly salary with bank loans is no longer sustainable.
With a monthly wage bill of N4 billion for workers, coupled with the shortfall in the monthly allocation from the Federation Account of between N3 billion and N4 billion, Governor Seriake Dickson said it would be difficult for government to meet its financial obligation.
Speaking with newsmen yesterday in Yenagoa, Dickson said his administration would meet with stakeholders towards devising a policy aimed at solving the problem of salary payment in the state.
“There have to be some discussions with the workers and stakeholders. We cannot be borrowing to pay salaries as we have been doing. Our workforce minus political appointees, we need about N4 billion to pay salaries; the situation is not sustainable and realistic, because of our development agenda.
Allaying fears of the workers, the governor assured that, rather than embark on retrenchment of the workforce and reducing minimum wage, greater emphasis will be placed on professionalism in the civil service in his second term.
He said: “A lot of states are going to have crisis this year, even the Federation itself will face crisis and it’s not peculiar to Bayelsa State. It is important that the workforce in Bayelsa should learn to appreciate these things before they jump here and there instigated by failed politicians, who could not win election, but know how to sponsor demonstrations of old pensioners that they could not pay when they were in office.”
In a related development ahead of his inauguration on Sunday, for a second term in office, Dickson assured the people that his re-election would be for greater service and consolidation in the area of security, stability, development and prosperity across the state.
Speaking with newsmen in Yenagoa, he commended Bayelsa voters, especially the youths and women, for their belief and firm devotion to his aspiration during the election.
Elsewhere, in Otukpa, in Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State, Governor Dickson paid tribute to his escorts’ commander, late Inspector Godwin Ameh Ogbeh, who he described as “hardworking and trustworthy.”
He paid the tribute at the burial of the deceased police inspector who slumped and died in November last year while on official assignment.
The governor, who led a powerful delegation of Bayelsa State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains to Benue State for the burial, also urged the Idoma people to stand up in defence of their pride and dignity by voting overwhelmingly for former Senate president, David Mark in the February 20 rerun in Benue South Senatorial District.
“We want the people of Idoma to, again, do what we did in Bayelsa. Recently in Bayelsa, we resisted imposition from outside. We didn’t allow somebody from Abuja, Lagos or elsewhere to come and determine who leads us in our land. We did it in Bayelsa State and I’m sure Idoma people can do it here,” Dickson said.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt has declared Mr..Alfred Belemote Watson, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as the winner of the Brass Constituency 2 in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly.
In a ruling, the court upheld the earlier ruling of the state House of Assembly Tribunal and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue Mr..Watson his Certificate of Return.
Also, the Appeal Court upheld the ruling of the tribunal nullifying the election of Dr.. Michael Awoli Anapurere of the PDP, representing Ogbia Constituency 2 in the state House of Assembly.
The appellate court then declared Mr..Gibson Munalayefa of Labour Party as the winner of the election, having scored the highest valid votes cast.
By the latest judgment, the number of opposition members in the House has risen to five in a 24-member state Assembly.
from The Sun News http://ift.tt/1TbIDYS
via IFTTT
0 comments:
Post a Comment