As part of the efforts by the Kwara State government to resolve the lingering salary crises at the basic education level, the Joint Accounts Allocation Committee(JAAC) appropriated 60 per cent of the June statutory allocation for basic education teachers which is N623, 544, 446.06
In addition, 10 per cent of the State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for the month of May representing N82, 586, 847.07 was released for the purpose of teachers’ salary, making a total of N706, 131, 293.13.
This is against the N462, 051, 119.75 that was appropriated for the same purpose in May. This also reflects a return to the previous practice of making teachers’ salaries a first line charge.
Demola Banu, the Commissioner for Finance, disclosed this in a statement released in Ilorin following the meeting of the Technical Committee of the State Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) meeting held on Thursday, 23 June, 2016.
According to Banu, the June statutory allocation for the 16 local governments in the State stood at N1, 039, 240, 743.43, noting that 40 per cent of the allocation representing N415, 696, 297.37 was released for LG employees’ salaries and pensioners’ arrears.
The Commissioner further noted that the 16 LGs paid about N189million to banks for previous salary-related borrowings.
He further explained that the decision to appropriate a larger portion of the allocation for teachers’ salary was part of the government’s robust plans to ameliorate the condition of the primary and junior secondary school teachers.
It will be recalled that Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, during a meeting with stakeholders in the Education sector last Monday, restated his commitment to finding a lasting solution to the lingering salary crises at the basic education level.
Meanwhile, the Kwara State Government says only civil servants and pensioners that are yet to undergo BVN clearance are currently being owed by the State Government, emphasizing that all cleared workers and pensioners in the state will continue to receive their entitlements.
In a statement issued in Ilorin, the state capital, by Muyideen Akorede on behalf of the Kwara State Personnel Database Development Committee, the state government said 15% of the 83,000 workers and pensioners that are yet to be BVN verified had their entitlements warehoused pending clearance.
The statement further clarified that, while the state government was one of the least affected by the huge drop in federal allocation and has been paying salaries regularly, certain categories of workers and pensioners who did not supply their details on time are temporarily affected.
The State Government stressed that having gone through physical verification, workers and pensioners have to be subjected to BVN verification at the Nigerian Interbank Settle System(NIBSS) which is also verifying workers from other states and the Federal Government.
It added that, the salaries and pensions of the affected individuals have been warehoused and will be paid to those verified as soon as the exercise is completed.
While urging the affected workers to exercise patience, the government stressed that the verification was necessary to ensure only authentic workers and pensioners who have worked for their wages are paid in the state.
The State Government expressed optimism that expected savings from the exercise will enhance its efforts to end the salary crises in the state.
On the issue of LG workers, the state government emphasized that cleared workers were paid based on available resources from federation allocation and internal revenue, saying, the recent decision to prioritize salaries of basic education teachers will bring added relief to the workers.
SIKIRAT SHEHU
