The Bayelsa State Government has announced that henceforth, academic staff workers in Universities and other Tertiary Institutions of the state will not be in the salaries payment list of the State's Civil Service under the present administration.
This was disclosed by the Deputy Governor of the State, His Excellency, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (Rtd.) on behalf of His Excellency, the Governor of the State, Hon.Henry Seriake Dickson and the Restoration Government of PDP stated this during the 2nd Transparency Briefing of February 2018, held in Government House, Yenagoa.
The Deputy Governor flanked by top government officials, such as the Secretary to the State Government Mr. Kemela Okara, the Hon.Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso Markson, the Hon. Commissioner for Finance, Mr. with his team of financial experts including the Chief Finacial Adviser, Iduate Iyabi and Mr. Timipre Seipulo. Other high officials include the Commissioner of Education, Hon. Jonathan Obuebite and the Hon. Commissioner for Power, Engr. Jim Ogbolo amongst others.
He stated clearly, that the Bayelsa State government had always been leading on the campaign for transparency and accountability in governance which had resulted in the reduction of the state's wage bill from N3.6bn to N2.9bn, the deputy Governor said, it was the result of much deliberations and reports presented to government by various committees to achieve the feat. Hear him:-
"Following the Public Service Reforms based on very many Committee Reports, the aim of government is to see that most of the tertiary institutions on their own shall be getting only grants from the government. So, we are no longer adding that to our salaries, as we settle the grant separately.
"That is why you see the salary bill going down from N3.6bn to N2.9bn" , the Deputy Governor clearly stated.
Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah said the state government had in accordance to the new policy approved the sum of N6.30bn grant to Universities and other Tertiary Institutions to be self reliant on salaries payment.
Commencing graphic explanations of the income and expenditures of the state in the month of February, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (Rtd) said this:-
"On behalf of the government, we once again give you the income and expenditures of the state..."
He then went on to read out the total amount received from the federation accounts allocation committee (FAAC), 13% derivation funds, value added tax (VAT), Excess Crude, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) etc. and also read out deductions out of the total gross income of N14.3
billion that accrued to the state in February.
The Commissioner for Finance, Mr. spoke on government's commitment to the Transparency briefing in these words:
"This is one promise the Governor made, and we are seeing the dividend achieving all this. In education alone, we have achieved the feeding of students in our boarding schools. This cannot be reversed either because it is established by law"
Earlier, the Honorable Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso Markson said the Bayelsa State Government led by His Excellency, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, has kept on with the Transparency Briefing for the past six years, for which an Award of honour has been given to the Governor by a frotline Media Organization. Hear him:-
"...We ''ve been doing this for the past six years, the only state doing this. The African Independent Television (AIT) presented an Award to the Governor for being transparent and accountable to the people.
"Great leaders who come to Bayelsa and see the jobs being done...thought there is so much money...but it's due to prudent management of the finances of the state.."
The Information Commissioner said, all those who came and commissioned projects in the state gave kudos to the development vision of the Governor, Hon. Henry Dickson, with attestation to transparency and accountability as the secret of success.
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