Rivers State Government (RSG) says the monthly savings from the ongoing salary verification exercise has risen from N600m monthly to N700m in the month of August. Head of Service, Barr Samuel LongJohn, who disclosed this while speaking to newsmen in his Office in Port Harcourt, said the exercise, which has enabled the State Government save over N3b since March this year, is not intended to cut anybody’s salary as erroneously peddled by some workers, but aimed at correcting inconsistencies uncovered in the payroll system. He advised those who claim that their salaries have been cut to come up with facts and if found true, corrections would be effected, stressing that the State Government has often expressed worry over the high wage bill and is happy on the outcome of the exercise. Barr LongJohn noted that at the end of the exercise, the salary burden on the government would have been lightened enough to give room for the recruitment of more staff to fill vacant positions in the Service. On the operations of the One Stop Shop for Pension Matters, the Head of Service said, “the One Stop Shop is still in the incubation stage, a lot of improvement still has to be done; the objective is to reduce the period it takes to complete the documentation process, if things are put in proper shape, the documentation process should be completed within three months”. He said a lot of improvements have been made in the Civil Service which aimed at improving the service delivery and potentials of workers. In addition to improving the welfare, facilities and landscape in the Secretariat Complex, more public conveniences are being constructed to serve staff and visitors to the Complex he said. The Head of Service urged Civil Servants to proffer ideas and suggestions on ways to further improve the Service by making use of the suggestion boxes mounted in front of the Point Block and other Blocks in the Secretariat.
