KADUNA: Governor El-Rufai Says Workers are Priority... Pays April 2016 Salaries

Kaduna Government have paid salaries to workers even in the face of dwindling revenues. The government said its most recent federal allocation has fallen to N2.4bn, a sum that is only slightly above its monthly payroll.
The government reaffirmed that while it has reduced the monthly wage bill to N2.2bn from the N2.7bn it inherited in May 2015, it has to maintain a vigorous approach to ensure that the wage bill does not exceed its revenues.
Finance Commissioner Sulaiman Abdu Kwari explained that the government has dutifully paid its workers every month, even though a minority of workers have had their payments delayed by verification issues. He disclosed that the government has enough money to meet its salary obligations, but warned that the continued slide in revenues poses challenges.
“Kaduna State is getting only N2.4bn from the Federation Account this month. This is only slightly higher than our monthly wage bill. The N2.4bn we are getting this month maintains a recent pattern of revenue decline that saw the state’s allocation falling to N2.8bn for two consecutive months.
“The Kaduna State Government prioritises the payment of salaries to public servants. Its efforts have been to ensure that only genuine staff are paid. That has been the focus of the verification process, and the wisdom of the exercise is proven by the continued squeeze on revenues.
“As announced earlier, the verification exercise is in the concluding phase. Salaries for April 2016 are now being paid to all state civil servants whose Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) have submitted their verified list, with valid Personnel Sub-head Numbers (PSN) and Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) for all workers. Any MDAs whose data does not include PSN and BVN for their personnel will not be paid, until the crucial data is submitted.
“The April 2016 salaries for local government council and local education authority staff will be delayed until the committee working on the concluding phase of payroll verification for that tier completes its work.
“All pensioners have also been notified that it is mandatory to submit their PSNs and their BVNs in order to continue to receive their pensions.
“The Kaduna State Executive Council wishes to inform all workers and residents of Kaduna State of these serious revenue challenges, and requests their contributions to ensuring that scarce money is not wasted on the fraud that ghost workers represent. The government acknowledges the patience and forbearance that most public servants have demonstrated in supporting the effort to create a payroll that has integrity.”