ENUGU — The Enugu State House of Assembly on the resumption of plenary on Tuesday adopted a motion urging the State Government to direct the Joint Account Committee, JAC, to structure a unified system of payment whereby the salaries of primary school teachers and other Local Government staff in the State be deducted from the collective pool of all LGs allocations.
The deduction will be made before the appropriation of the remaining funds using the normal ratio(s) of allocation to respective LGAs.
A unified payment system will address the issue of late or half salary payment of workers, and curb the incessant migration of teachers from schools in rural LGs to urban and semi-urban LGs.
While presenting the motion, motion no HM/No 3, Iloabuchi Aniagu Desmond, member representing Nkanu West constituency and sponsor of the motion explained that most teachers employed by Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board, ESUBEB, and posted to the rural communities most often seek transfer to schools in urban and semi-urban LGs.
“This trend not only increase the staff strength in schools in urban and semi-urban LGs but reduces the needed manpower in rural schools. By this, LGs in urban and semi-urban areas expend most of its allocation on payment of salary”, Iloabuchi said.
He further explained that the present arrangement causes delays in payment of salaries in such areas with high staff strength and inability to pay full salaries at times. Also, these LGs hardly embark on any development project because all allocation is expended on salary payment.
“These anomalies will be addressed with a unified payment system,” Aniagu reiterated.
Recall that in 2015, the Edward Ubosi led committee on critical verification exercise tour of all the 17 LGAs presented 25 recommendations; out of the 25 recommendations, 24 have been implemented remaining 1 which favors a unified payment system.
In his contribution, Chukwuka Eneh member representing Udi South Constituency emphasised that deducting the salaries of primary school teachers and other local government staff from JAC will enable the state government to pay teachers and other LG staff on time.
This according to him will boost the morale of the affected workers and eliminate the flimsy excuses given by Local Government chairmen for not paying workers their full wages and on time.
Jeff Mba, Chairman Committee on Information while commending the sponsor of the motion, prayed that formula for distribution of primary school teachers and local government workers across the 17 LGAs be established by the state government; the formula must be based on equity and need.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Chief Edward Ubosi, applauded his colleague for their robust contributions and support of the motion.
In support of the motion, Ubosi said, “The motion will save the state from experiencing financial crisis in payment of its workforce, especially in the dwindling economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The motion was co-sponsored by 10 other members and supported by all the members of the seventh Assembly.
The House thereafter adjourned to Thursday, 21th May 2020.
