—-denies admitting to owing 38 months workers salaries
Kogiflame.com
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have called on Kogi State Workers not to be deceived by the crocodile tears and apology of Governor Yahaya Bello, who admitted owing 38 months salaries only to turn around attributing it to youthful exuberance.
The PDP in a statement signed by State Publicity Secretary of the party, Prince Bode Ogunmola, which copy was made available to newsmen on Saturday while reacting to newspaper report that the governor’s representative admitted owing the workers, even though he attributed the anomaly to youthful exuberance, and pleaded for forgiveness.
The PDP described Gov. Yahaya Bello as a governor who slept all through the tenure of his administration, yet the looting that took place in his administration walked the streets naked with workers owed for months, urged the workers not to accept the plea of Edward Onoja, said all he ended up doing at the NLC meeting was to market a bad product to a people wounded and injured by the Gov. Bello’s administration.
According to the PDP, ” Kogi Civil servants are wiser now and once beaten twice shy. The time of reckoning has come. Thuggery will not pay you this time around. You’re a bad product that is dead on arrival,” described Edward Onoja, as not a sincere marketer, marketing a bad product that would not sale, asked Chief Onoja to tell his boss to prepare his hand over note.
The PDP prayed God to comfort Kogi workers for the sufferings occasioned by non payment of salaries as caused by the present administration.
The PDP equally prayed God to comfort those whose family lost loved ones occasioned by non payment of salaries, described Gov. Bello as a leopard that can not change its skin, urged the workers not to be cowed by the apology of the Governor, through his Chief of Staff, who represented him at the quadrennial delegates conference of the Kogi State NLC.
Meanwhile, Kogi State Government has debunked reports in some sections of the media where the Chief of Staff to Governor Yahaya Bello, Hon Edward Onoja was quoted to have admitted to owing workers in the state for 38 months.
Chief of Staff to the Kogi State Governor, Edward Onoja gave the assertion on Saturday in Lokoja, saying the news credited to him wherein he was said to be have apologised to the civil servants in the state between eight to 38months salaries was false.
He stressed that the State did not owe any genuine civil servants in the state such amount of salary arrears, adding that most of the persons crying wolf were civil servants that were affected during the screening exercise due to certain anomalies.
Onoja who was speaking on Saturday at a One Day Interactive Meeting organised by the Better Kogi Movement with the theme: “Quality Leadership and Youth Inclusiveness in Governance,” accused aegments of the media of constituting a major National problem which required immediate check as the infiltration of falsehood and propaganda was becoming alarming.
He clarified that during the Civil Service screening exercise in the first year of the Yahaya Bello administration, about 10,000 civil servants were found wanting, falling under categories ranging from age falsification, certificate forgery among other criminal issues legally requiring, dismissal, imprisonment among other punitive measures.
He further stated that due to the magnanimity of the Governor, many were pardoned and some sort of soft landing were offered, an action by the State government that was now being taken for granted.
He said the people should be mindful of the information they believe and spread on the social media as it was their duty to verify such information so as to ensure that truthfulness was upheld in the society.
