Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has announced plans to repeat the biometric screening exercise for civil servants that has lasted for two years, claiming that the ongoing exercise did not meet expectations.
This is even as the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state has kicked against it, saying such describing it as a waste of another two years.
The APC rather called on Wike to hearken to the plea of President Muhammadu Buhari by using the Paris Club loan refund to pay workers and pensioners their wages.
APC in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone said:“The harsh antagonism repeatedly shown by the governor to workers, pensioners and their leadership is uncalled for. Workers and retirees deserve their pay. With particular regard to the fate of pensioners, Governor Wike should realise that he will have a thing or two to explain to God because some of these ailing senior citizens are already dying due to their inability to buy food and medicine for themselves,” the APC said.
It would be recalled that Wike and his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) came to power in May 2015, and accused the former governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and his APC of neglecting workers salaries for months and pensions for longer periods. Now, it is the APC that is pelting Wike on same account.
Besides, Amaechi’s administration had also carried out two rounds of workers screening and the last was biometric. These exercises delayed payment of salaries.
He said he saved billions of naira. It was surprising that the moment Wike (who was part of the previous administration as chief of staff) came to power; the first thing he embarked upon was biometric screening of the over-screened workers. This, too, has led to pains and delays. Wike too says he has saved billions of naira.
The party in the statement said it was deeply worried that “Wike has decided to visit Rivers State civil servants and pensioners with an undeserving draconian and scorched-earth policy of endless bio-metric exercises just to delay and sometimes deny the workers and retirees their due wages.”
Finebone said: “We recall that several workers and pensioners are still reeling under the excruciating pains of being owed several months of salaries and wages, which the Wike government claims is due to endless biometric exercises. APC believes that the real intension of the governor is to punish workers and pensioners through delayed and oftentimes denied salary payments for protecting their rights.
“We know that the governor prefers to use the money meant to pay workers salaries for his own ego trips that include travelling with retinue of aides and acolytes to Spain to watch Real Madrid football matches or embark on endless trips to the Caliphate in search of his dream Vice Presidential ambition which he believes is tucked away under the imperial seat of the Sultan.
“Yet still, rather than pay workers and pensioners, Gov. Wike would rather prefer to lavish Rivers money on other things. Those Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) staff he allegedly splashed N360m ‘gifts’ on for the last rerun elections are still having their day in court.”
