Enugu Govt Earmarks N285m For 731 Workers Absorbed Into Civil Service
The Enugu state government would spend N284.96m for the payment of arrears of salaries to 731 former staff of some parastatals in the state that were absorbed into the state’s civil service.
It also gave approval for the regularization of 42 casual staff of the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUT), as permanent staff of the establishment.
Speaking at the end of the state’s council executive meeting, the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Ogbuagu Anikwe disclosed that the affected workers were former staff of Enugu State Agricultural Development Programme (ENADEP), Sports Council and the Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS).
The commissioner explained: “Sometime in 2016, it was brought to the attention of government that there were some staff of parastatals who were absorbed into the mainstream of civil service, but were not properly captured, with the result that they now have arrears of salaries that were not paid and these parastatals include Enugu State Agricultural Development Programme (ENADEP), Sports Council and the ESBS totalling seven hundred and thirty-one workers”.
Anikwe further explained that a committee was set up in 2016 to tackle the issue, adding that most of the affected workers failed to show up for verification, which he said, necessitated another committee in 2017 that submitted its report, which the council considered and approved.
He disclosed that more than 10% of the affected staff has not been verified and that the council was of the opinions that a lot more work needed to be done in that regard.
He stated that the total amount needed to liquidate the arrears was N284.96 million.
“Now, what the council decided is that commitment to pay them, but for the meantime, just to help them cushion the effects of what they may be suffering at this moment, that 10% of what is owed would be paid while all efforts would be made within a reasonable time to verify all the others and pay them. So, there is a commitment by the government to pay this sum of N284.96 million”, he said.
