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From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Chairman of Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, Chidi Lloyd, has said that the individuals protesting over non-payment of salaries are not genuine staff of the council as revealed by a verification exercise conducted by the council in 2022.
Lloyd, who spoke to newsmen in reaction to protests by some people disengaged from service by the council, blamed his predecessors for employing some individuals without following due process.
The Emohua council chairman also criticised the workers for engaging in dual employment, which he explained was the basis for their disengagement from the council.
“So, when I got all of those reports, it was obvious that political officers; my predecessors in office, who had one supporter or the other, also wrote their names on the voucher as people they want to empower, and did not tell them that it wasn’t a permanent employment.
“So, for them, they have been employed, forgetting that there are procedures to employ people. And of course, we had to do the housekeeping and left the traditional staff.
“As I speak to you today, in Emohua Local Government, we pay well over 989 staff. This exercise, as at the time I conducted it in 2022, we came down from above 1,600 to about 1,000.”
Lloyd, while disclosing the achievement of the council from the discovery after the verification exercise, said he is not worried about those protesting, provided his administration is doing what is right.
He vowed that he would never use his position to intimidate anyone or group of persons, adding that his administration is concerned about delivering the dividends of democracy.
The council boss assured that he would pay even the backlog of salary to any person who is verified and cleared as authentic staff of Emohua LGA at the end of the second phase of the exercise.
