ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State Government has said that from June 2021, it is going to computerise the local government staff salaries as part of the measures to address the issues of fraud and corruption in the system.
The decision was reached during an enlarged meeting with council chairmen and principal officers presided over by the Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, at the instance of Governor Douye Diri at the Chief Dappa Biriye Conference Centre in Yenagoa.
Ewhrudjakpo said that going forward, before the Joint Accounts Allocation Committee is released, the government would announce the figures to the state just as the Federal Government is doing to the states.
He said: “Now, chairmen take note of this; going forward, before the JAAC is released, I am going to announce the figures to the state just as the Federal Government is doing to the states. I will report this to the Governor and I believe he’s going to approve it.
“From next month, we will force all of you into Oracle. We are going to computerize the local government staff salaries. I believe this will help to address the issue of fraud and corruption in our local government councils.”
Ewhrudjakpo said the meeting was convened to clear misgivings and rumours that he was withholding council funds as well as depriving councillors of their entitlements.
He described the rumour as unfounded and warned those behind such smear campaigns to stop forthwith.
To make for more transparency and accountability, he said he would seek the approval of the governor to start publishing the monthly allocations of councils on the state government’s website after every JAAC meeting.
He also cleared the air that there was no time the state government agreed to bear the full financial burden of promotion benefits for council workers.
According to him, the state government promised to only support councils that their allocations would not be able to carry the additional financial responsibility arising from the implementation of the benefits.
While stressing the need for people of the state to shun rumour mongering and character assassination, Ewhrudjakpo urged the chairmen and councillors to discharge their duties with a sense of maturity and responsibility.
During the meeting, the chairmen and councillors have unanimously agreed to save 50 per cent of councils monthly recurrent expenditure to take care of their severance and other unforeseen financial obligations.
The meeting also endorsed an earlier decision reached by the deputy governor, the chairmen and principal officers of the councils that 60 per cent of the local governments monthly allocation should be used for capital expenditure while 40 per cent goes for recurrent.
All the chairmen and councillors in attendance also used the opportunity to pass a vote of confidence in the supervisory capacity of the Bayelsa State deputy governor.