By Pius Dukor
Contrary to rumours that some local councils in the Rivers State have refused to honour Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s directive on the payment of N30,000 minimum wage, the acting chairman, Local Government Service Commission, Pastor GoodLife Iduoku Ben, has said all LGA chairmen have complied with the governor’s instructions.
“The directive is a landmark, because no other governor has done that. After he appointed me in January, the head of Personnel Management, the treasurer and other senior staff paid a visit to the governor and he promised them on the issue,” he stated.
Briefing journalists in his office in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, Ben maintained that the payment is in the best interest of the people, noting that in the 8 years under the past administration no one person was paid the minimum wage.
He stated that the commission is mandated to hire, fire, train and retrain staff of the 23 local government councils in the state.
Asked if he is aware that some local councils, have sacked some of their staffers and their salaries withdrawn, the acting chairman explained that it is only the commission that empowered by law to take such action if is necessary, and stressed that no local council chairman has such powers.
On the issue of promotion of staff within the various councils in the state, he told the journalists that the promotion of senior staff is on-going, after the completion of the junior ones across the state.
The commission’s boss further explained that the workers are happy with Governor Fubara, because just few months in office, the governor was able to pay minimum wage and ensure promotion of workers that had been neglected for more than eight years.
“The workers are happy with the governor and they are praying for him to succeed in his governance,” he said.
Speaking further, GoodLife Ben said that no local council has complained about the directive as all have complied with the payment of minimum wage which was followed immediately after the directive with financial benefits.
When asked if this exercise may in anyway lead to employment at the third tier of government, he stressed that after the completion of the whole exercise, any LGA that lacks manpower will write to the commission and the commission will inform the governor. It is after the approval of the governor that employment can take place, he said.
It could be recalled that the Local Government Service Commission was without a chairman or members for years before Governor Siminalayi Fubara appointed Pastor GoodLife Iduoku Ben on January 2024.
Since then, a lot of positive changes have taken place. This have attracted some positive feedback from both the senior and junior staff where this motivation have propelled workers to coming to work early.
