The Restoration Campaign Organization has accused the All progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva, as the brain behind the delay in the release of the state’s N1.6 billion bailout fund.
The government had applied for the said fund to pay local government workers who are being owed six months salaries.
While the government had been paying workers in the state civil service till date, the local governments had been in default arising from liquidity crunch which informed the decision of the state government to intervene by applying for the bailout fund.
However, the workers would now have to wait till next year as it was alleged that Sylva, acting out a political plot to discredit the state government, might have caused the delay in the release of the fund.
The position of the RCO was contained in a statement yesterday by the Director of Publicity, Daniel Jonathan Obuabite, which insisted that political consideration was behind the delay of the funds which it also noted was affecting the welfare of the workers.
“It is on record that the Bayelsa State Government has kept faith with the payment of salaries to workers in the state civil service but the same cannot be said in the 8 local government areas in the state that are in default. This prompted the request for bailout. Unfortunately, while other states have received their own share of the bailout fund, that of Bayelsa is being delayed for political reasons”, the statement said.
The RCO observed that the situation in Bayelsa State is also playing out in Kogi State where workers are owed salaries because the government is also denied the bailout fund, a situation, it said, had pitched Governor Idris Wada, who is running for re-election against the workers who have now been forced to go on strike.
Meanwhile, the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ebipere Ndiomu, has expressed concern over the delay, suspecting foul play and has called on the state government to intervene.
In an appeal to Governor Seriake Dickson, the labour felt disturbed by the development and wondered why the bailout fund for Bayelsa State was being delayed which it said might have been due to politics as also alleged by the Restoration Campaign Organization.
“Your excellency, we suspect foul play because we see no reason why other states have accessed the bailout fund and Bayelsa is yet to access its own. Our local government workers are really suffering and we are appealing that you intervene”, labour stated in its appeal to the governor.
Sources, however, claimed yesterday that the APC governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva, was behind the delay which may not be unconnected with the political situation in the state.
A source which craved anonymity said it was a ploy by Sylva to discredit the Dickson administration, noting further that the APC felt allowing Dickson to access the funds may lead to deployment of same to fund his re-election.
