Imo State Commissioner for Finance, Chuck Chukwuemeka said the State government regrets the non payment of Pensions and Salaries as promised by the Secretary to the State government, Cosmas Iwu, last Friday, saying the delay was as a result of the absence of governor Hope Uzodinma who was on official engagement in Abuja.
The Commissioner who disclosed this in a media briefing in his office on Tuesday, said most of the inconsistencies observed in the records of pensions and the payroll of workers are gradually been eliminated saying the reforms embarked upon the governor is yielding results.
On the protests by pensioners, the Commissioner said the senior citizens has every right to ventilate their grievances and urged them to exercise more patience as the state government is putting every measure in place to pay them and the workers on or before every 28th of each month as the governor had promised earlier saying there is enough fund to pay even up to three months but things must be sorted out first.
He bemoaned the situation where some few individuals were defrauding the state government through double salaries/pensions, incorrect BVN and wrong account numbers saying the discoveries are mind boggling.
The Commissioner equally blamed some heads of parastatals who are yet to adhere to the instructions of the state government for the inability to pay some workers saying the governor is very determined to change the way things are done in the agencies and parastatals.
While urging Imo people to be patient with the government, Chuckuemeka said in the next eighth (8) months, Imo state will witness a massive transformation stressing that the governor Uzodinma is a highly prudent person.
According to him, what governor Uzodinma is doing to achieve his objectives is quite different from his predecessors saying Imo is indeed in a better hand than before.
The Commissioner admonished those workers who receive their salaries through Micro Finance Banks to be patient as government is doing everything to sort out their problems.
NIGERIAN HORN
