Nasarawa Governor probes alleged percentage salary payments to LG staff
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has ordered an immediate and comprehensive investigation into allegations that some local government workers are having their salaries paid only in percentages rather than in full.
He directed the Commissioner for Local Government, Community Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Aminu Muazu Maifata, to carry out a thorough investigation to verify the truth of these claims.
Governor Sule’s ongoing efforts to improve the payment of salaries and pensions for local government workers in Nasarawa State must not be compromised.
The governor has previously intervened to ensure that local government workers and pensioners receive their salaries and pensions fully, acknowledging that some local government areas have lagged in payments due to economic challenges.
A committee had been set up to investigate and appraise why local governments were struggling to meet their payroll obligations, revealing discrepancies in payroll figures and prompting tighter oversight measures aimed at ensuring 100 percent payment of salaries moving forward.
Governor Sule has also assured that genuine complaints from workers left out during verification exercises will be addressed, emphasizing that the ultimate goal is to ensure full and timely payment of salaries and pensions without diverting funds meant for projects to salary payments.
Therefore, this investigation order is part of Governor Sule’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and fair treatment of local government employees in Nasarawa State.
Governor Sule gave the directive shortly after being presented with the report of the 2024 local government elections conducted by the Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission (NASIEC) at the Government House on Wednesday.
According to the Governor, the investigation became necessary following the release of a video that is trending on the social media where allegations of percentages payment of monthly salary to some local government workers were made.
He ordered for the full investigation of the allegation, with a view to finding out if it’s indeed true some council workers are still receiving salary in percentages, as well as to fish out those who are responsible for shortchanging the council workers.
Governor Sule emphasized that since May 29th, 2019, his administration has been paying one hundred percent salary to local government workers in the state.
“As fas as I know, from 29th May, 2019 to date, we have been paying local government workers one hundred percent of their salary. We have also paid one hundred percent of promotions for local government workers. We have also done the minimum wage, paying one hundred percent for local government workers. All these have been paid fully,” he stated.
He directed the Commissioner for Local Government to investigate the claim in order to confirm the veracity or otherwise of the allegation.
“If there is any particular local government or any particular development area that is not remitting the entire one hundred per cent and reducing something, I want you to fully investigate that to ensure that we correct that. And you bring those who are responsible for our own notice so that we can solve that particular problem,” he said.
The Governor threatened to sanction any official found to be responsible for the payment of council workers in percentages.
He equally threatened to take up legal action against the originator of the video if the allegation turns out to be false.
“However, since it is a video and not just a write-up from an unknown face, it’s a video from a known face. If the allegation is false, I want you also to take some steps against the originator of the video. Otherwise, people would just wake up any moment and accuse people of wrongdoing.
“If it is true, I want you to correct it and bring to book who are responsible for that so that they can be penalised accordingly. But if it’s just somebody waking up from the wrong side of the bed to accuse us of something that is going viral, we also need to take some action on our part towards making sure that we just don’t entertain people just waking any day and accusing the local government that they have not been doing what they are supposed to do,” he said.
Receiving the report for the November 2, 2024 local government elect from Barrister Ayuba Wandai Usman, Chairman, Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission (NASIEC), Governor Sule assured that his administration would continue to encourage the commission towards discharging its responsibility efficiently.
“I promise you we will go through this and encourage you to continue to make more corrections, innovations and reforms and to take steps to correct those steps that even you probably you would have done better,” he said.
He showed appreciation to the NASIEC Chairman and his management for the smooth and successful conduct of the 2024 council polls.
“I want to congratulate you for successfully conducting that election of November 2, 2024. It was one of the elections we didn’t have any significant issue when it came to election crisis. We commend you for all the efforts you put in during the election. We congratulate once more, all the successful candidates that emerged during the election,” he said.
Governor Sule expressed satisfaction that political actors who participated in the exercise resorted to the courts to resolve issues that emerged after the election, with candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who lost the election also taking their matter before the election petition tribunal.
“The good thing about our own election is that those who had complaints went to the tribunal. I know most of the cases have been decided by now. It is good for you to know that those candidates who also lost in APC also went to the tribunal. People have now understood that taking the legal dimension is a way to resolve some of those issues,” he said.
Earlier, while presenting the report, Barrister Wandai said NASIEC under his charge, remains committed to strengthening democracy at the grassroots through the conduct of free, fair, credible and transparent elections.
The NASIEC Chairman said the report provides a detailed account of the 2024 council elections meant to produce 147 councillors and 13 chairmen, from pre-election assessments, highlighting the innovations introduced, challenges encountered, as well as key lessons learned.
He added that the report also offer recommendations for the continuous improvement of electoral administration in the state.
“The report serves as a valuable reference document for policymakers, electoral stakeholders, researchers and the general public who are interested in the advancement of democratic governance in Nasarawa State,” he said.
Barrister Wandai traced the successful conduct of the 2024 polls to the collective efforts of key stakeholders namely security agencies, traditional institutions, political parties, civil society organisations, as well as the media, who demonstrated commendable cooperation and support.
He equally appreciated the Nasarawa State Government for providing necessary support for the smooth conduct of the exercise.
Wandai noted that the commitment, dedication and unity of purpose demonstrated by the staff and management of NASIEC contributed significantly to the success of the 2024 council elections.
