Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel has directed a 20% reduction in the salaries of all political office holders in the state.
According to a statement signed on Tuesday by the Secretary to the State government, Emmanuel Ekuwem, the decision is due to the prevailing economic realities of dwindling revenues, caused by the crash in the price of crude oil in the global market.
He said the governor was confronted with an urgent need to take a decision on either of two options.
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The options according to Ekuwem include, “to continue to pay the current salaries for a while and end up being totally unable to pay same subsequently or spread the discomfort (20% cut) sustainably over a period of time pending the return of crude oil price to normalcy in the global market.”
Ekuwem added that, “it was by the same ancient principle of ‘necessity is the mother of invention,’ that led to the establishment of the Akwa Ibom State Post COVID-19 Economic Reconstruction Committee by the Governor, to recommend navigable routes out of this global economic morass for our State.”
He urged the affected political appointees to note that the salary reduction is temporary, promising that Akwa Ibom State Government will transparently resume full payment of salaries “when this dark cloud passes.”
