COVID-19 Donation: Governor Mohammed Halts Deduction of Bauchi Workers’ Salaries
BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, BAUCHI – Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of Bauchi State has directed the State Accountant General and other stakeholders involved in the payment of salaries to state civil servants to stop any deductions of some percentages from the salaries of workers as contributions to the fight against Coronovirus pandemic.
Governor Mohammed, who gave the directive on Tuesday at the inauguration of the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Committee for the state at the Government House, said the directive followed series of complaints received from some categories of workers who expressed displeasure over the decision which they claimed was not done with their consents.
In the words of the governor; “I was told by the Head of Civil Service and the Organized Labour in the state that workers will contribute various percentages from their salaries for the next three months to support our campaign against the spread of Coronovirus, but later, some workers complained that the government forced them to do contribution which is not true.
“With this development, I directed the Accountant General and the Head of Civil Service to stop deduction of any amount from the salaries of workers. Whoever wants to contribute as part of corporate social responsibility, can meet the State Task Force.”
These were contained in a statement by the Special Assistant to the governor on New Media, Lawal Muazu Bauchi, in which he further said that Governor Mohammed acknowledged the sacrifices and contributions from some citizens of the state in the ongoing campaign against Coronovirus and assured that his administration will not force any of them to make compulsory contribution.
The State Deputy Governor, Senator Baba Tela, who is also the Chairman of the State Rapid Response Taskforce on COVID-19 and Lassa Fever, had announced that civil servants in the state had agreed to contribute various percentages of their salaries to the COVID-19 fund.
