The Ebonyi state governor, Chief David Umahi at the weekend promised to pay extra one month salary bonus otherwise called 13th month to workers under the state employ in the spirit of Christmas celebration.
The state governor, Chief Umahi, who made the promise at a one-day official visit to the state owned University permanent site, Ezzamgbo noted that the State House of Assembly had already given approval to that effect. It would be recalled that Gov Umahi had recently announced five percent salary increment to all the workers on October this year.
He explained that junior workers would receive 100 percent bonus whereas senior ones would be payed 50 percent of whatever they receive monthly, boasting that his administration was neither owing workers salaries nor pensions.
He further disclosed his administration’s plan to begin immediate payment of gratuity arrears owed by both local and state governments since 1993 amounting to eight billion naira (N8bn).
The governor who expressed dismay that civil servants found it difficult to pay their retired colleagues their pensions but would
want to be paid when they retired, said the payment would begin payment of gratuities this December with the families of retirees who had already died.
He said,”We are not owing anybody pension in Ebonyi state. Gratuity is owed since 1993 and gratuity for both local and state governments
is over N8bn but the funny thing is that when you seat as a civil servants, you refuse to pay others their gratuities and when you now leave, you start insisting, we should pay gratuity.
“So, for those we have owed gratuity for a very long time;we are expecting a miracle. What we want to do for our brothers and sisters that were not paid gratuities and they are dead, we intend to look at them and see how we can pay off their gratuities through their families and we hope to do it this December.
“We also want to pay everyone that has retired 10 percent of whatever we owe him/her in the name of pension and other allowances”.
Credit:
http://leadership.ng/news/562611/yuletide-umahi-to-pay-ebonyi-workers13th-month-salary-bonus