The Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Rt. Hon. Peter Odey, has dismissed protest by some civil servants in the state over delayed salaries, explaining that over 80% of workers in the state have already been paid.
Speaking in Calabar on Wednesday, Odey said, “the seeming delay for some employees in the state civil service and local government, though regrettable, is informed by the painstaking effort to weed out duplicate entries following the reconciliation of cleared names from the relevant pay-rolling offices with the nominal roll.”
The state government had sometime embarked on staff audit owing to what it said was “enormous wage bill despite large number of retirements from the service.”
The Deputy Governor was quoted as saying by his press secretary, Fred Abua, that the state government has made significant progress in the staff audit and will in no distant time makes its findings public.
“In the interim, the government appeals to the labour force to see this exercise as birth pangs of a glorious future if we must have a state that we all desire.
“The Senator Bassey Otu-led administration remains committed to its People First Agenda and this can only be realised when all segments of the state make sacrifices and support the drive for a transparent and accountable system,” Odey stated.
He acknowledged that the state government is aware of the difficult times, and “assured that all those whose salaries have been delayed genuinely will be paid in no distant time.”