Bello: With Paris Club Refund, N10b Borrowing, We Cleared Salary Arrears

Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, yesterday said the state government had cleared all salary arrears owed civil servants in December, using the balance of N1.2 billion Paris Club refund released by the federal government and additional N10 billion borrowed by the state government.

Bello who made this claim while answering questions from journalists in the State House, said while four months outstanding arrears were initially cleared before Christmas, the remnant was cleared thereafter.

He disclosed that the state government had come up with a new device to track workers' punctuality in the state, pointing out that workers will henceforth be paid according to the number of days he/she reports for duty.

"In Kogi State today, we are up to date as far as salary is concerned. In the month of December, like Mr. President magnanimously assisted us with another tranche of Paris Club refund, our own figure was N1.2 billion and some other change on top.

"We didn’t just stop at that. We borrowed up to N10 billion and we added November/December allocation to our figures and we were able to clear four months at a stretch before Christmas and some leftovers were cleared before this January in Kogi State.

As you all know, the salary was very bogus and according to the figure we had, we were able to distribute it among these months, so glory to God as far as Kogi State is concerned.

"Moving forward from this Janu- ary, we have decided that we are going to make use of our clock-in device for every civil servant in Kogi State both at local and state levels so that that as you come to work and clock-in, that is exactly how your salary will be generated.

"It is online. It is automated. So, nobody is going to cheat anybody. That is how we are going to go in the state. So, in Kogi State, civil servants, pensioners are all happy with this administration. Thanks to God and Mr. President for this magnanimity," he said.

Bello who said Fulani residents do not pose any security threat to the state, said instead they had been instrumental to the arrest of criminal elements among them adding that the collaborative efforts among security operatives have helped to stem the tide of insecurity in the state.