…2,300 Political Aides Dropped
To avoid discrepancies of the payment of political appointees and aides in the various twenty-three (23) local government councils in Rivers State, Governor Nyesom Wike has fixed salaries for the Caretaker Committee Chairmen, members and other appointees of the council.
According to information we gathered the governor made this known while addressing across section of CTC chairmen and principal officers of the council, Governor Wike regretted the reckless spending by the council chairmen. He further expressed dismay over the large number of appointees and aides in the council. According to Wike appointees are much in the council considering the dwindling allocation accruable to the LGAs.
He told the CTC chairmen to trim down the number of their political appointees to ten (10).
The governor announced that henceforth CTC chairmen should go home with N450, 000 as their monthly salary, while he also told them not to collect more than N5m as their security votes.
The governor went on to say that the CTC members will on monthly basis collect N250, 00 and N200,000 as salary and impress respectively.
Governor Wike further asked the CTC chairmen to pay their Special Advisers N150, 000 each as monthly stipend. Governor Wike noted that the new salary scale will put to an end embezzlement and reckless spending in the Rivers council.
He also frowned at the behaviour of some political godfathers in the LGAs and advised them to leave political appointees alone so as to perform their duties to the satisfaction of the rural dwellers.
Governor Wike had earlier decried the manner and the way in which chiefs are pestering the council chairmen for stipends.
He enjoined the council chairmen to fast track development at the grassroots.
Considering the directives of the governor, no fewer than 2,300 political appointees and aides would be dropped in the twenty-three (23) LGAs, since the governor ordered that political appointees should not be more than ten (10) in each of the LGAs.
In some LGAs, CTC chairmen appoint no fewer than hundred aides. Several CTC chairmen made the appointment without payment.
Some social commentators who spoke with our correspondent applauded the governor for the decision and the directives. They described it as a welcome development, adding that it would check the level of frivolous political appointments and reckless spending in the LGAs. ###
