There are strong indications that the Benue State
government may reduce the salary of workers in
order to cope with the huge wage bill hanging on
the neck of the administration.
Governor Samuel Ortom gave this hint on
Wednesday, during the inauguration of the board
of civil service commission, declaring that the
huge wage bill coupled with economic recession
had compounded the challenges of his
administration.

As of the time of filing this report, the state is
owing five months salaries to its state workers,
while local government workers are being owed
six months salaries.
The governor, who lamented the huge wage bill
which he put at N7.8 billion monthly including
local government workers, pension allowances
and monthly overhead, however, submitted that
‘retrenchment is not an option’.
“The past administration in its own wisdom
raised the wage bill which shows that what a
civil servant in Benue earns doubles what his
counterpart earns in neighbouring states like Imo
or Nasarawa states.

“Even most states who enjoy 13 per cent
derivation still owe backlog of salaries, though,
retrenchment is not in mind, but very soon, we
will hold stakeholders’ meeting to look at what
we can do, after all, Nasarawa has reverted,” he
disclosed.
The governor charged the newly inaugurated
members of civil service commission to work
hard and sanitise the state civil service for better
productivity.
He also charged them to be fair in their dealings
in the affairs of promotion, discipline and other
responsibilities as dictates by their duty.
The chairman of the board, Professor Jerry
Agada, a former minister of state for education
under the Yar ‘Adua promised that the members
would not betray the confidence reposed in them.