Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, has said the impact of the renewed destruction of oil assets in the state producing environment has gone so bad that the state is now unable to pay salaries regularly anymore.
The governor, yesterday at the Government Office Annex, Warri, where he convened a stakeholders meeting on, “Creating A Peaceful Atmosphere for the Development of Delta State and the Niger Delta Region,” said: “The larger Nigerian government has been in financial crisis over dwindling oil prices.
Increased production would have helped cushion the impact but instead we are faced with destruction of oil assets.
“Dealing with dwindling oil prices and destruction of oil assets, we are now producing just half of our quota. And we are all really worried because of the greater effect is on Delta State.
Before now we receive up to N20 billion monthly, but what we have now is so low. Last time we got N3.4 billion. Last month what we received has dropped to N3 billion. We now get 1/7th of what we use to have.”
The governor said, going by the current financial position, the state was no longer in a position to pay salaries regularly just as Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, has also nosedived.
“We met a wage bill of N7.4 billion. Our workforce has been unchanged.
With biometrics and rationalization, we trimmed that to about N6.8 billion. With the situation, we have in our hands, we are not in position to pay workers regularly anymore.
“If we produce our normal volumes, we won’t have it this bad. We have had to reduce support to the councils. And apart from poor income from Federation Account, IGR has also gone down because money is not circulating.
“I do know that we were receiving reasonable Pay As You Earn, PAYE of up to N1.5bn and N1.6bn monthly.
That has gone down. We should realise there’s a challenge. Political office holders, traditional rulers should build peace.
Delta State has been on the news for the wrong reasons and that’s not where we want to be,” Okowa added.
Vanguard cullage.
*All these new set of governors do is complain,complain,complain..how were the ones before them managing if it is so bad?Nobody has time for all these excuses abeg!...How will the people working survive the hard times if they are not paid?
Doesnt the governor get paid?
Make Una see change!!!
Hian
ReplyDeleteOshio baba no dey owe salary sha. Correct governor.
DeleteOkowa, you've been owing even before the bombing started. Stop the excuse
You can't pay workers but you get your salary and benefits even before the month end. God is watching all of you.
Delete"Make una see change" lol. They wanted change. Pay workers their salary and stop complaining.
ReplyDeleteFool he is a pdp governor...
DeleteSuper story! Better goan pay your staff. Inukwa?
ReplyDeleteGood for them,shebi the thought they are doing us,is it the west or the north that is suffering now?useless ppl
ReplyDeleteSo if oil dries up tomorrow nko? many countries have no oil yet they are fine. I don't know what is wrong with African leaders. Thieves.
ReplyDeleteIt's terrible. No jobs, nothing!
ReplyDeleteNa waah
ReplyDeleteAnd what is Vuharia doing about this?...
ReplyDeleteClueless dullard president!...
Your cluelessness make ppl sick.
Deletestella the president and vice president complain too blaming corruption and bin slow to respond
ReplyDeleteLAZY GOVERNOR.. THE WHOLE ROADS IN WARRI ARE TOTALLY FINISHED, COMMON TO PATCH ROADS HE CAN'T. USELESS CONTRACTORS TAKING 1 YEAR TO CONSTRUCT A LESS THAN 1KM ROAD FROM REFINERY TO JEDDO-UBEJI JUNCTION. FRUSTRATING PLACE
ReplyDeleteYou are talking about Warri. Come to Asaba the state capital and see. Once it rains, no more movement.
DeleteAnony 11:35 God bless you .
DeleteImmediately i saw the anony's complain above yours see how fast i was in scrolling down in other to join mine to his/hers in the rant.
He should just do something about the bad roads. No drainage.. In fact the bad roads in Asaba is seriously destroying peoples cars and other properties.
Person go dey im office in front of their building go don turn to small river Niger. Nawa o! This Okowa's gov.no dey work o.
Av u seen the roads in Asaba.. Tufia.. No light in Asaba for like 1month now
DeleteWhy blame Okowa for the bad roads? His predecessor awarded contracts to people who either did shoddy jobs or never did the projects. You now want him to re award the contracts when he's barely able to pay salaries? When oil prices was still a bit okay, Uduaghan was borrowing money from banks to pay salaries months before he left. Y'all should cut Okowa some slack Pls #sideeyesatStella
DeleteHahahahhaahhaah Stella be coming back on track now. You see when you clamour for change one has to be ready for the "chanji" as it could a positive or a negative change, but at the end of the day change na change be it positive or negative. Now Nigerians eyes don open.
ReplyDeleteMonkey is he not in pdp? Which change?
Delete
ReplyDeleteThe governor said the activities of militants have reduced the revenue generated by the FG, and by implication has also reduced the allocations to his state.
It's not rocket science really. And to all those encouraging the militants all in a bid to show President Buhari shege, you can see that we the governed are the first/direct hit. Before their activities go affect Buhari salary ehn, e go tey.
Peace y'all. Let's preach peace.
At times like, you know Governors who truly have capacity to run their states.
ReplyDeleteBefore now most of them don't have any development plans and ideas, they just go to Abuja to collect Federal Allocation and share
This is why most of them are crying and complaining instead of diversifying to increase their IGR like Ambode and Obiano
Thank u.
DeleteIts worse than non deltan think. DELSU workers haven't been paid for 2months. I hear the Government is trying to negotiate with them in terms that they are paid once in every 2 months. Its really crazy o.
ReplyDelete*A wise man once said nothing.
ReplyDeleteGOD WILL HELP US ALL
ReplyDeleteHe has been owing before bombing started he should just shut his big toothful mouth.
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens when the wrong people lead.
ReplyDeleteApart from collecting money from Abuja and sharing .. most of these governors are useless.
So in the whole of delta state, this nimcompooo cannot raise cash but he can dash to his ashewo girls.
All these governors who cant pay salaries should resign Na.na wa o.
ReplyDeleteAsaba is suppose to b a beautiful town.. But did governors re not trying. It's a dirty town with plenty bad roads.. D only good road in Asaba is DBS from d little I know about d town.. It's so frustrating cos I work in onitsha. I spend more than 2hrs most times on that road. To leave ur house sef na wahala cos u end up dipping ur legs in those red dirty muddy water.. Asaba is just a mess for a state capital.. Pls ask Donald Duke how he changed calabar.. U can do it too.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to say but this man is so stupid for giving such excuse, he has been owing workers salaries even before the bombing, council workers in my Lga have not been paid since last year. What about teachers... He recently used the money meant for teachers to pay Council workers. My mum is a teacher and it's been very hard, they've just been paid trice this year.
ReplyDeleteShould I talk about the roads all around the state? This man has done absolutely nothing since he came to power,roads in Warri are serious mess, more like abandoned projects, sapele is even worse-any bad road is abandoned until youths take it on themselves to patch it.
What about the state Capital, Asaba. Electricity zero, good road zero. In fact I'm tired of ranting. Okowa, do what you were appointed for(because majority of Deltans did not vote you in, you're too weak), stop giving flimsy excuses. You knew what you were getting into. Pay workers and alleviate them from poverty and serious suffering. They can't feed their families, can't pay children's school fees, can't help their loved ones, can't even afford transport fare to do what they are not even paid for. OKOWA,God "bless" you.
'm sorry to say but this man is so stupid for giving such excuse, he has been owing workers salaries even before the bombing, council workers in my Lga have not been paid since last year. What about teachers... He recently used the money meant for teachers to pay Council workers. My mum is a teacher and it's been very hard, they've just been paid trice this year.
ReplyDeleteShould I talk about the roads all around the state? This man has done absolutely nothing since he came to power,roads in Warri are serious mess, more like abandoned projects, sapele is even worse-any bad road is abandoned until youths take it on themselves to patch it.
What about the state Capital, Asaba. Electricity zero, good road zero. In fact I'm tired of ranting. Okowa, do what you were appointed for(because majority of Deltans did not vote you in, you're too weak), stop giving flimsy excuses. You knew what you were getting into. Pay workers and alleviate them from poverty and serious suffering. They can't feed their families, can't pay children's school fees, can't help their loved ones, can't even afford transport fare to do what they are not even paid for. OKOWA,God "bless" you.
So you voted!!!!??? You are part of the problem
Delete"All these new set of governors do is complain,complain,complain..how were the ones before them managing if it is so bad?Nobody has time for all these excuses abeg!...How will the people working survive the hard times if they are not paid?
ReplyDeleteDoesnt the governor get paid?
Make Una see change!!!"
That's just a silly statement.
He can't pay salaries but that weekend he paid a caterer along Charles Street In Delta States for a party he held in his hometown along Owa Ekei road. Two cows were slaughtered that weekend. It was the same weekend his daughter celebrated her birthday. Same person that says he cannot pay workers, sacked workers when he resumed office but appointed Special Advisers and Senior Special Advisers. My brother's and sisters what is the difference? Pensioners from 2013 haven't been paid. People are suffering and dying. May God help us.
ReplyDeleteThe delta state government has been holding in
ReplyDeletecustody some young men accused of attempted fraud,
conspiracy and forgery since february 11 2016. If
really those young men are so smart as to know the
lapses and loop holes in the system why not use them
to secure the state treasury. I mean in developed
countries that’s what they do. The governor should
look into the matter. A source has told me and my
colleagues that the young men were detained at the
dss in asaba for close to 3 months then transferred
to the warri prison okere where the were reminded.
They were there for 4 and half months then now
transferred to ogwashi uku prison. They have spent a
close to 10 months now. The governor should stop this
oppression and ask for the assistance of those young
men. There are a million and one persons out there
still stealing from the state and from my point of
view if am asked my opinion, the state should recruit
more of these intellects to assist them at a lower
cost. Take for example the payment of salaries in
the month of september, It was a disaster. Why not
get able hands instead of the men in suit with empty
heads you have in your IT department? Question for
his excellence.