The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has met with civil servants in Rivers State with a promise that his administration will offset the backlog of salaries owed them by the previous administration.
Wike assured them that their welfare will be top on the list of priorities, but reminded them of the need to be patient with government considering the economic challenges.
Addressing the civil servants at the State Secretariat Complex on Monday in Port Harcourt, he sued for their cooperation and support to move the state forward.
The Rivers State governor also promised to pay pensioners owed since February, saying that, “at least, we will pay one or two months arrears; we don’t want to lose our parents and elderly ones who have served the state.”
He, therefore, directed the Head of Service to meet him to work out modalities on how the pensioners will receive their pay.
Already, he stated that the government has started paying staff and team members of Sharks and Dolphin Football Clubs owed eight months’ salaries, stressing that, “the non-payment can kill people and we don’t know how many have died.”
He used the forum to intimate the civil servants on the policies and programmes of his administration, explaining that the previous government put the state into serious financial challenge as he met an empty treasury.
“We are not here to victimise anybody…We are not witch-hunting anybody. All we are asking is to know the state of our assets,” he said.
While explaining the reason why the board of the Rivers State Civil Service Commission was dissolved, the governor held that the state House of Assembly had recommended that the commission be dissolved.
Wike explained why he stopped the employment of lecturers at the Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori, disclosing that the school authorities were employing people through the backdoor two days to the end of the previous government.
He maintained that government stopped the process because it was not approved and would add to financial its woes.
The governor, however, berated the civil service union and the judiciary workers union for compromising in fighting bad governance, noting that, “it is not good; whatever we do, remember you will give account of it tomorrow.”
Wike promised to provide conducive work environment by upgrading facilities at the state secretariat complex.
Earlier, the state Head of Service, Barrister Samuel LongJohn thanked the governor for the visit, and expressed hope that the new administration will fulfill its promise, describing civil service as the engine room of government.