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Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has restated the need for local government councils to redouble efforts at shoring up their monthly internally generated revenues (IGR) to remain financially viable.
This is just as he assured local government pensioners of the state government’s commitment towards improving their welfare as it takes steps to implement the N80,000 new minimum wage in the state.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo, gave the assurance while granting audience to the executive committee of the state chapter of Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), local government branch, at his office in Government House, Yenagoa.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, at the weekend, the Deputy Governor, called on the councils to fashion out other sources of revenue rather than depend solely on monthly federal allocations.
He pointed out that it would be difficult for councils in the state to pay and sustain the new minimum wage if they continue to completely depend on statutory allocations from Abuja.
He said: “I have asked experts in that area to work out the new minimum wage to see what the local governments will be able to pay. I know that council workers will insist that they should be paid like their state counterparts.
“But we should know that the state government and local governments do not have the same level or sources of funding. How many of our local governments are able to generate N100 million in the whole year? Just very few of them.
“As I said earlier, the details of what is going to cost each local government area must be worked out first because if we are not careful, our local government areas will go bankrupt.
“That is why I have told them to be very innovative and serious about generating revenue for the councils. There is nothing that stops you from collecting little money from people selling in the market. Or, collect licenses from boat, motorbike, keke operators. That’s not a crime. It is legitimate.
Responding to the retirees’ requests, Senator Ewhrudjakpo assured that arrangements were underway to clear and pay pensioners who were inadvertently omitted in the payment of gratuities across board last year.
He also promised to make some effort to ensure that local government retirees have a share of the N7 billion the State Government recently announced for the payment of outstanding gratuities.
On the issue of upward review of monthly pensions to the retirees, the Deputy Governor said such review would be based on the capacity of the local governments which currently depend mainly on monthly federal allocations.
He congratulated the executive committee members of the local government wing of the NUP on their recent inauguration, adding that government would look into their request for an operational vehicle, among others.
Earlier in his presentation, the Chairman of the local government branch of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) in the state, Comrade Noel Itade, said their visit was to introduce the new executive committee members to the Deputy Governor.
Comrade Itade, who thanked the state government for approving N7 billion for gratuities payment, pleaded that local government pensioners who were omitted in the 2023 gratuity payment exercise be reconsidered for payment.
He also called for an upward review of their pensions to reflect the present economic realities in the country, as the Federal Government had done for its retirees.
