BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, BAUCHI – In line with the autonomy granted to Local Government Councils in the country, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has directed that henceforth, salaries of the third tier of government should be paid by the respective Councils in the state.
Mohammed also directed that the 20 Local Government Councils in the state should collaborate with the Office of the Accountant General of the State in conducting the verification of staff who have problems in accessing their salaries.
Speaking in Alkaleri Local Government Area during the verification exercise on Thursday, Deputy Accountant General (Inspectorate), Mohammad Sagir Abdullahi explained that the exercise is to identify staff with problems in order to be able to sort them out.
He explained that some of the problems are name mismatch, wrong BVN number, accounts in micro finance banks that do not have the 10 number digit assuring however that so far over 90 percent of those with problems have been sorted.
In his remarks, the Chairman of Alkaleri Local Government Council, Yusuf Garba said that out of the over one thousand staff of the Council only 200 of them are having problems with their salaries and assured that as soon as they are cleared, they will be paid their salaries without delay.
He said; “As I am talking to you, we have enough funds in our bank account to immediately settle all those cleared. The government is not ready to deny people of their legitimate benefits”.
Garba, who is also the ALGON Chairman in the State, thanked Governor Mohammed for returning payment of salaries to the LGAs.
He said; “It is indeed a demonstration of democracy in action, the administration is for the people by the people”.
