Bayelsa Government To Pay Workers’ June Salaries

The Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson has re-assured workers of the state that payment of salaries for the month of June 2015 will commence … Continue reading Bayelsa Government To Pay Workers’ June Salaries


gov seriake dicksonThe Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson has re-assured workers of the state that payment of salaries for the month of June 2015 will commence this week.

The Governor said he had already authorized the payment of the salaries to commence from Tuesday, July 7.

Governor Dickson, who lamented the current economic downturn in the country, however maintained that Bayelsa State was not owing its workers, as it was the case with most states in the federation due to the sharp drop in oil revenue.

As part of efforts to meet salary obligations to workers, the Governor said that there has been a drastic reduction in government’s expenditure, adding that his office has not received security votes and some other statutory allowances for the past three months.

According to him, Bayelsa was one of the heavily indebted states upon his assumption of office but that the state is now ranked among the least indebted as a result of his administration’s prudent management of resources.

Dickson said: “We are not owing our normal monthly obligations to our workers. Just yesterday, after reviewing the financial reports for the month, I have authorized that salaries for June be paid and the process will commence from July 7.

“We have been slowed down in terms of execution of most of the massive infrastructural programmes that we got involved in over the past 3 years. To that extent, there are major challenges facing Bayelsa and indeed all states in the country but not to the extent of not paying our workers because of the structures and mechanisms we have put in place. We need the bailout because of the obligations we have to our contractors towards the completion of on-going projects.”

Although, the state does not owe salaries, the Governor lent his voice to the on-going call on the Federal Government to provide financial bailout to state governments, including Bayelsa to enable the state meet its outstanding contractual obligations.

Governor Dickson said, “We inherited a very high debt profile. The bond that was taken by my predecessor, Timipre Sylva is close to N100 billion when you add the interest elements, which we are servicing in order to maintain the corporate integrity of the state.