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Tag: Bayelsa government

  • Bayelsa expunges 28,000 ghost workers from payroll

    The Bayelsa government said the ongoing public service reforms has reduced its workforce from 55,000 to 27,000, thus fishing out and expunging 28,000 ghost workers from its payroll.

    The Bayelsa Commissioner for Information, Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson, made this known in a statement on Saturday in Yenagoa.

    Iworiso-Markson was reacting to criticism by the Bayelsa chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) to the job losses occasioned by the management of the reforms.

    He berated APC for criticising the reforms, adding that the aim was to deal with payroll fraud and not to sack workers.

    It would be recalled that an APC member of the Bayelsa House of Assembly, representing Brass 1 Constituency, Mr Israel Soni-Goli while receiving two members of the PDP led government noted that the government was not managing the reforms properly.

    The Bayelsa Commissioner for Youth Development, Mr Ibarakumo Otobo and Mr Asari Mangeta, an aide to Gov. Seriake Dickson, had on Wednesday defected from the PDP to APC.

    According to Iworiso-Markson, the APC only made a failed attempt to discredit the well intentioned and generally received by the public sector reforms in Bayelsa.

    He said that media reports quoting the APC as having described the sack of 28,000 workers as regrettable only shows that the party and its followers are not abreast of developments in Bayelsa.

    He added that any politician attempting to attack the reforms and the removal of fictitious names from the payroll was an enemy of Bayelsa and her people.

    The Commissioner described the commencement of the ongoing exercise to engage 1000 workers into the public service as a pointer to the benefits of the reforms.

    He further said that the recruitment was in addition to the huge financial reprieve from the removal of ghost names from the payroll.

    He, however, challenged the APC to provide one qualified Bayelsa civil servant who was sacked as a result of the ongoing reforms to back its claim.

    “It is clear that the APC in the state is worried by the wide acceptance of the reforms by Bayelsans.

    “When you are out against ingrained corruption, what do you expect? Corruption will fight back. This is a classical case of corruption drawing the daggers against the reforms in the name of APC in Bayelsa.

    “Anybody faulting the holistic implementation of the reforms hates Bayelsa; anybody attempting to politicise the removal of fictitious names from the over bloated payroll is an enemy of the unemployed Bayelsa youth.

    “What this government has done is what other administrations failed to do because they considered political considerations above the interest and survival of our dear state.

    “Who are the 28,000 workers that have been sacked? Where were they sacked from?, ‘’ he asked.

    The commissioner added that the APC should be in a position to parade some of the supposedly sacked workers from the public service,.

    He said the fact was that a party built on a mound of lies would not stand, saying, this lie should be discountenanced as Bayelsa is not a ghost society.

    “You do not sack ghost because there is no provision for them in the society of humans. Are they alleging the sacking of 28,000 ghosts workers, ‘’ he said. (NAN)

  • Bayelsa denies sacking workers

    Bayelsa denies sacking workers

    Bayelsa State Government on Tuesday dismissed reports that it sacked 217 academic and non-academic staff of the Niger Delta University (NDU) and 184 workers at the state’s Ministry of Environment.

    The government described the claims as false and blamed it on mischief-makers sponsoring propaganda to derail the preliminary findings of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry probing malfeasance in the public sector.

    The government, however, clarified that the salaries of some workers were with-held following alleged irregularities in their credentials, age claims, unusual promotion and other forms of payroll fraud.

    The state Commissioner for‎ Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, in a statement, said the government at different times made it clear that it had no intention to sack any worker.

    He said the government was only interested in fishing out those who found their way into the civil service illegally and others who had explored loopholes in the system to enrich themselves.

    He said the salaries of persons suspended were safely kept‎ in an unpaid salary account waiting to be disbursed to them when cleared at the end of the exercise.

    He said: “We have not sacked anybody. The salaries of ‎some workers were only suspended. And those are the people suspected to have one issue or the other with their documentation. So it behooves on them to go and clear their names so they can begin to get their salaries.

    “We are mindful of the times and we don’t want to get those who are genuine workers but because of human error to suffer unduly. So they have the opportunity to go and appear before the commission. Those who engage in the business of blackmail to rubbish government are not helping the process.”

     

     

  • Bayelsa to employ more youths in 2017

    Bayelsa to employ more youths in 2017

    In appreciation of the roles of the youth in national development, the Bayelsa Government has promised to employ  thousands of youths in 2017.

    Mr Felix Ayah, Special Adviser to the Gov. Seriake Dickson on Oil and Gas, gave the assurance on Friday in an interview with journalists in his office in Yenagoa.

    He said that the government would also empower some youths to be self-reliant.

    The adviser said that the government placed high premium on the youth and would do its possible best to ensure their wellbeing.

    On job applications submitted to his office, Ayah said that invitation for further screening would be sent to shortlisted applicants in due course.

    He thanked the youth for support for the government, and called on all Bayelsa people to be patient with the government.

  • Bayelsa Govt. fishes out 5,000 ghost workers

    Bayelsa Govt. fishes out 5,000 ghost workers

    Bayelsa Government on Saturday said it had fished out 5,000 ghost workers from its payroll.

    Dr David Ala-Peter, Chief Accountant, the office of Special Adviser, Bayelsa Treasury, Account and Revenue, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa.

    He said the ghost workers were identified in the recent staff verification exercise, where more than 50,000 workers participated.

    Ala-Peter said the exercise was aimed at identifying fake names to reduce the state’s wage bill.

    “The panel has done well during the exercise. We use software of international standard; we use oracle software.

    “The method used was very effective. We have established staff database; we captured both their fingerprints, dates of birth and their credentials.

    “During the exercise, we verified more than 50,000 staff. Right now, we are operating with little above 45,000 workers.

    “Right now in the state, names in the payroll cannot be duplicated as your fingerprint is only identical to you.”

    He said the exercise had reduced the state’s wage bill, adding, “but I may not be able to ascertain the correct figure.”

  • Bayelsa declares seven-day mourning for Alamieyeseigha

    The Bayelsa State Government on Monday declared a seven- day mourning in honour of a former Governor of the state, Chief Diepreye  Alamieyeseigha, who died last Saturday at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).

    A statement signed by Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the Chief Press Secretary to the state Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, directed that all flags in all public buildings and premises across the state be flown at half mast for the period.

    According to the statement, the mourning period started on Monday.

    It added that condolence registers had been opened in Government House and the state Secretariat.

  • Bayelsa renews commitment to development

    Bayelsa renews commitment to development

    The Bayelsa Government on Saturday renewed its commitment to develop all parts of the state despite dwindling resources from the federation account.

    Mr Lawrence Erujakpor, the state Commissioner for Works,said this while conducting members of Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) on a tour of projects in the state as part of activities marking the 2015 All Editors Conference in Yenagoa.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the monthly revenue of the state has nosedived from N18 billion in 2012 to N9 billion by July 2015.

    Erujakpor regretted that the revenue drop had adversely affected the pace of construction activities, but added that the government was judiciously deploying the available resources to ensure value for money.

    He explained that the drop in revenue had compelled the government to shift the deadlines for most of the ongoing projects adding that the rainy season had also caused some delays.

    Erujakpor told the NGE members that the state government was implementing a deliberate policy of spreading development projects to all parts of the state to ensure even development.

    Some of the projects sites visited include 3 star hotel projects , the N3.8 bn governor’s office project, the golf course , multi-door court house, Music school and language school.

    Others are the medical diagnostic complex, drug distribution mart , the cargo airport, Ogobiri bridge and Ogbia-Nembe road, among others.

    The editors also visited the abandoned Oloibiri Oil Well 1 in Ogbia local government area.of the state where oil was first struck by Shell Petroleum Development Company in 1956 in commercial quantity.

  • CLO to Bayelsa: Account for flood money

    CLO to Bayelsa: Account for flood money

    Environmental rights activist and Bayelsa State’s Chairman of Civil Liberties Organisation, Mr. Nengi James, on Tuesday called on the state government to render an account of flood money.

    James insisted that the government in the spirits of transparency should tell the people of the state the amount of money it had so far received from various sources including the Federal Government in the name of flood management.

    He said such accounts should include individual and corporate sources and cash it withdrew from the state’s Compulsory Savings Account after the approvals of the State House of Assembly.

    James, who spoke in Yenagoa, the state capital, asked the government to give details of how it expended the money, the projects it invested the money on and individuals it gave cash grants to.

    His reaction came shortly after The Nation published reports of how victims of the 2012 flood disaster were still counting their losses despite huge amount of money received from different sources by various states.

    The activist observed that corporate organisations, individuals and Federal Government donated cash and relief materials to the state.

    But he said transparency which the government preaches demands that details of the cash receipts and expenditures are made public.

    He noted that such action would make the people take the government serious in its flood management programmes.

    According to him, flood victims deserve to know what happened to their funds especially in the face of allegations that the government had done nothing to alleviate their suffering.