In an announcement that took Imolites, especially, Government workers by surprise, Governor Hope Uzodinma said he would pay 13 month salaries to the workers.
This will be a first time in the history of Imo State Civil Service. The workers are to receive 100 per cent of their basic pay as 13th month.
Besides the 13th month pay and assurance for the immediate payment of their December salary, the Governor also promised to give the workers Christmas rice through their ministries while efforts are on top gear to elevate deserving civil servants.
Governor Uzodinma made this known to the workers during his interactive session with them at the Ndubuisi Kanu Square Owerri on Monday.
He said despite wrong assumptions from certain quarters, his administration had, from inception, held workers in high esteem and considered their welfare of utmost priority.
The Governor recalled that the Secretariat was the first place he visited when he assumed office about 23 months ago, on January 29, 2020, where he interfaced with workers on areas of challenges and the way forward.
He told them that investigations into all outstanding payment of salaries and pensions are ongoing and that soon it would be a thing of the past and payments effected
Governor Uzodimma assured that all verified 43,000 workers without issues will never be owed salaries by his government as he does not regard payment of salary as achievement by any governor “because the worker deserves his wage.”
He also promised that promotion issues will be looked into as long as the workers remain committed.
The Governor regretted that most of the workers who have been going about blackmailing his Government are those who have issues, some of them criminal, as some workers have been established to be earning salary in two or three or more places.
Although the Governor contemplated calling their names before the army of civil servants at he venue, he later changed his mind and called on the Civil Service Commission to fashion out modalities on how the affected workers will refund to the State Government all they have defrauded it for years which is in hundreds of millions of naira.
Governor Uzodimma charged civil servants to remain committed to the service of government and try not to be partisan.
He encouraged them to help him by doing the right thing so that he too could be of help to them. “Your happiness is my happiness, your sadness is my sadness, your hunger is my hunger,” he said, noting that he is a good friend of workers.
Earlier in his address, the Head of Service, Dr. Camilus Iwuagwu, recalled the various ways the administration has improved the workforce and welfare of workers, particularly the automated payroll system, the prompt payment of salaries and pensions, the provision of free Mass transist, the Civil servants Clinic, training of workers on capacity among many other things.
He thanked the governor for granting the request to revisit the genuine cases of workers and pensioners who, as a result of BVN problems, joint account , and other issues that led to omissions resulting are not receiving their salaries or pensions.
“You mandated the committee under the leadership of Civil Service Commission and Local Government Service Commission to verify the claims of those workers and pensioners for payment.”
The new chairman of NLC , Imo state, Rev. Philip Nwansi, commended the governor for being workers- friendly and he expressed confidence that all those with issues of unpaid salaries and pensions will in no distant period have reasons to rejoice.
