I’m Not Owing State Workers Salary, Okowa Insists

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state has debunked reports that he was owing state workers salary.

BigPen recalls that news reports, following President Muhammadu Buhari order to governors to use Paris Club loan refund to pay workers salary arrears before Christmas, had listed Delta state as one of the states in the country that is owing workers salary.

But reacting to this on Tuesday, Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah who frowned at the embarrassing report, insisted that the state government was not owing any state worker salary.

According to him, the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration had paid all workers up to date, and had consistently rendered assistances to the local governments councils across the state.

He however urged journalists to always cross check their facts properly before going to press, stressing that despite the economic downturn, the state had constantly paid its workers.

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The statement obtained by BigPen Online read in part: “We read with shock and embarrassment the misleading front page report in the Vanguard Newspaper of Tuesday, November 28, 2017, listing Delta as one of the States owing workers’ salaries.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Delta State Government is not owing its workers. We have paid all our workers to date and we have also consistently given financial support to the Local Government Councils to enable them pay the salaries of their workers”.

“We consider the report as malicious and tendentious and, therefore, demand an unreserved apology and immediate retraction of the story from The Vanguard”.

“We urge journalists to always cross check their facts before rushing to the press as such false information undermines good governance”.

“Despite the economic downturn Delta State Government had consistently paid its workers salaries even as we have continued to excel in infrastructure renewal, job creation and human capital development”.

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