Ekiti State Governor Segun Oni has said the delay in the payment of the salaries of public servants is the best option for his administration.

Oni spoke on Sunday at a live media chat, "Mr. Governor Explains", aired on major electronic media in the state.

He insisted that the "delay in the payment of salaries is a better option than owing arrears of several months ".

The governor also used the forum to emphasise that no worker was owed two months’ salary, claiming that October salaries were paid last week.

The governor said N3.371 billion earmarked for direct loans for the workers would be used as reserve fund to pay salaries before the state receives its monthly allocations from the Federation Account.

He noted that over 14,000 workers had benefited from the government’s direct loans.

The governor said only N22 million was provided as housing, accommodation and other loans for the workers in 2004 while his administration provided N3.371 billion from 2007 till date.

The governor also maintained that though the state received the least allocation from the Federation Account, workers in the state are among the highest paid in the country.

He added that the least paid worker in the state earns N9,776.00 per month.

The state, the governor said, is the second, after Delta State, to implement the new Teachers Salary Structure (TSS).


http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/26446/1/Oni-justifies-workers-salary-delay--/Page1.html