The Bayelsa State Government has signalled it may withdraw its workforce from the National Housing Scheme following reports that billions of naira deducted from civil servants’ salaries have not translated into any housing project in the state.
Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo issued the warning during a meeting with the leadership of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) at Government House, Yenagoa.
A statement released by his media aide, Doubara Atasi, said the government was “worried” that workers continued to contribute monthly to the scheme without receiving any benefit.
Ewhrudjakpo described the situation as “worrisome,” noting that despite regular deductions from Bayelsa civil servants since the state joined the scheme, “not a single housing project” had been executed for contributors.
He said the government was “weighing the option” of pulling its civil servants out of the scheme unless operators took urgent steps to make it effective, adding that it “makes no economic sense” for funds running into billions to lie idle while no houses were being built.
The Deputy Governor also directed the Commissioner for Labour, Employment and Productivity, Odoko Saturday, to engage relevant federal agencies to determine the exact status of the contributions deducted over the years.
“We are aware that monthly deductions are being made from the salaries the state government pays to our civil servants. That they are not getting the benefits the way they should, as spelt out in the scheme, is not acceptable,” he said.
Responding to other issues raised by the union, Ewhrudjakpo urged labour bodies in the state to look beyond rebates and check-off dues and begin investing in ventures that could strengthen their financial standing.
He also assured the ASCSN of the government’s support in completing its secretariat project, subject to available resources.
Earlier, ASCSN State Chairman Julius Laye, who also chairs the Bayelsa chapter of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), appealed to the government to intervene, adding that workers had been contributing to the scheme since 2007 “yet no single house has ever been built” for them in Bayelsa.
He also invited the Deputy Governor to speak at the union’s seminar next month and requested government assistance to complete the ASCSN secretariat along Bayelsa Palm Road.
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