Obuah's PDP Lied about Workers’ Salaries, Says Rivers Govt

Governor Rotimi Amaechi

The Rivers State Government has dismissed allegations by the Felix Obuah-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state that it is unable to pay the July salaries of civil servants in the state, describing the faction as serial liars, who have consistently sacrificed the truth
on the altar of scoring cheap political points. The government was reacting to allegations by the PDP that it was playing politics with workers’ salaries and had not been able to pay the July salaries of civil servants in the state. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the state Governor, David Iyofor, Tuesday advised the group, its backers and sponsors to desist from misinforming and misleading the public as the Governor Chibuike Amaechi-led administration remained committed to the welfare of workers in the state
Iyofor said: “It is amazing how low these people
(Obuah group) can go in the name of playing politics. You cannot stand truth on its head because you want to fish for a reason to abuse and attack Amaechi. Obuah and his co- travellers should stop playing politics with the lives of Rivers people. “They claim Amaechi could not pay workers’ salaries but even before they started peddling their wicked lies, civil servants’ salaries in the state were being paid and the payment is on- going. This can be easily verified both from the banks and civil servants; and the state leadership of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), the two umbrella unions of the workers. “As the banks furnish the State Ministry of Finance with the new 10-digit Nigerian Uniform Bank Account Numbers (NUBAN) from the old 13-digit account numbers, payments are been made. Anybody that does transaction with any bank is aware of the recent migration by banks from the old 13-digit account numbers to the 10-digit NUBAN account numbers.”
He restated that the Amaechi administration cannot play with the welfare of its workforce as shown by the minimum wage in the state service.
His words: “Indeed, Obuah and his fellow co- travellers deserves our pity and sympathy as they seem to suffer from a chronic case of selective amnesia, otherwise, they would have known that Amaechi do not joke or play politics
with the welfare of workers and that’s why Rivers State today pays N22, 000 minimum wage which is more than the national/federal minimum wage of N18,000.
“It is on record that presently, the Amaechi administration pays one of the highest civil service salary scales in the country, and with absolutely no backlog of unpaid salaries. And just in case Obuah and his group do not know, that is what is called commitment to workers’ welfare. This again, is something Obuah and his group can easily verify.” Iyorfor said Amaechi had been prudent and transparent in handling the finances of the state and that that had reflected in the internally generated revenue of the state and the projects executed by the administration. “The Rivers State government’s finances, under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, continues to be robust and administered in a prudent, accountable and transparent manner as can be witnessed by the
growing internally generated revenue profile and timely funding of workers’ salaries and welfare related expenditure, numerous infrastructural projects and social programmes in the State. It is therefore grossly misleading, irresponsible and repugnant for the Felix Obuah and his co-travellers to say otherwise,” he said.