Benue faults Assembly over state's financial status

CITING misinformation, the Benue State government has faulted what he termed the state House of Assembly's 'combative' posture over the state's financial status, adding that the recent delay in the payment of the workers' salaries, including those of some lawmakers, was not due to paucity of funds.The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Conrad Wergba, stated this in Makurdi at the weekend while reacting to reports on the state of Benue State account. He wondered why the Assembly, which was an essential and integral part of the administration, should become hasty in its decisions.The lawmakers recently expressed worry over the delay in payment of salaries including those of its members and summoned the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Omadachi Oklobia, to appear before it next week Wednesday to explain the state of the Benue accounts to them.The commissioner in a statement explained that only four members of the House, including the Majority Whip, Christopher Afaor; the Minority Whip, Terkimbi Ikyange; Benjamin Adanyi and Anthony Sende, were affected because they failed to present themselves for biometric data screening.The commissioner further clarified that the affected members have since been paid through supplementary vouchers, noting that the state government was up to date in the payment of salaries and other financial engagements.He also intimated that last month's slight delay in the payment of salaries was caused by late remittances to the state after the monthly Federation Account meetings, which now hold in third week of the month instead of the second week.On the issue of teachers' salaries, Wergba said the State Universal Basic Education Board had just concluded verification exercise of teachers in the state and in conjunction with the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, has commenced table verification and payment of teachers based on the new minimum wage.
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