Okorocha directs payment of 10 months arrears of health workers

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has directed that all the health workers in the state be paid their lingering 10 months arrears of salaries, including the month of December.

Okorocha, who spoke at a media briefing at Government House, Owerri, stated that the government had delayed the payment of the health workers’ salaries to enable it resolve issues of certain questionable allowances and gross cases of lack of seriousness on the part of the health workers.

Okorocha gave the directive Tuesday night at an end-of-year party organised for Government House workers, and also directed that all workers in the state be paid their salaries up to December, saying his administration had always attached much importance to payment of salaries of workers.

The governor stated that since 2011, when he became governor, workers in the state had been paid their salaries as and when due until most recently when the bad economic situation in the country began to tell heavily on the states’ finances across the nation.

He added that it was because of his concern for Imo workers’ welfare that made him to be the first governor to pay the N20,000 minimum wage.

“The truth remains that there was never a time the state government intended to owe health workers in the state. The only thing was that the government was not satisfied with the conducts of the health workers and their poor service delivery to the people of the state, despite the huge amounts being spent on payment of their salaries and allowances.

“The state government also questioned some of the allowances they were paying themselves,” Okorocha said, adding that these rather bogus payments had unnecessarily shot up the wage bill of the state civil service of less than 40,000.

The governor also called on workers in the state to appreciate government’s good gestures by being up and doing in their work, especially in the coming year, so that the state could move from strength to strength.

At the party, in which awards were given to deserving workers, a policewoman, Blessing Ogbuefi emerged the best Government House staff for 2015, and was given the key of a brand new car and N1 million cash.