Chief Perekeme Kpodo, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is sending warning to members of the opposition in Bayelsa, advising them to stop making politics out of the alleged pay roll fraud in the state civil service following the recent discovery of 718 fake appointments in the state.
According to Kpodoh, though the discovery is coming at a critical time when the administration is enjoying the support of the state workers and pensioners over the timely payment of salaries and pensions, the verification exercise and discoveries of pay roll fraud is a continuous exercise by successive administrations.
Chief Perekeme Kpodoh, while reacting to the recent claims by the opposition groups over alleged plan by the Governor Douye Diri administration to sack state workers, said the planned sack is not a political move against members of political parties or section of the state, “but a constitutional actions against fraud and forgery in the civil service.”
According to him, “in almost every state of the federation, it is mandatory for every successive administration to review its work force and ensure those serving the state are expected to be qualified and pass the litmus screening text. It is not a political action but one expected to guard against pay roll fraud and stealing from the state. ”
“Governor Douye Diri administration, like many of his counterparts in the PDP and APC including the President Buhari led administration are embarking on checks and re-check of their pay roll lists in order to guard against fraud in the state. ”
He called on the chairman of Bayelsa state civil service commission, Dr. Peter Singabele, to meet with various stakeholders including the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and other stakeholders to discuss and review the report of the Committee on Verification of Appointment Letters,” in order to avoid controversies and negative sentiments being dropped from the camps of opposition.”
On the delay in the take- off of the Tombia-Etegwe round about project, Chief Perekeme Kpodoh assured the people of the State that the combination of Gov. Douye Diri as a seasoned administrator and his Deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewrhujakpor who is a seasoned engineer, will produce a work of art on the proposed project.
He also pointed out that the proposed project may have been delayed but it is impacting positively on the roads mapped for diversion, “most of the roads earmarked as diversion routes are being constructed and the people of those areas are in a happy mood over the construction of their hitherto bad roads.”
“Also past administrations may have jumped into road construction without proper negotiation that led to it being left uncompleted, the administrator in Governor Douye Diri should not allow himself to be stampeded into the project without proper plan to complete it.
