Salary scandal hits Kwara govt following change of consultant

By Sulyman Jimoh
The Kwara State Government is presently enmeshed in a salary scandal that had left many of the workers in the state stranded following the appointment of a new consultant to handle the payment.
It was gathered that the salary payment made in the month of October has been grossly mishandled and bastardized. While some of the affected workers got alert of only N50, others got double salaries while some have not received any amount from their monthly salary till now.
The new consulting firm, Bento Financial Consulting whose office is located at the State Ministry of Finance and Planning reportedly commenced work in October, last month.
The governor was accused of arbitrarily changing the payroll handling consultants without following due process.
Multiple sources who confirmed the issue last night while speaking with National Pilot noted that the situation has been very frustrating for them coming at time many people are going through financial crisis because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
When the workers reportedly went to the Accountant General’s office, they were simply asked to write down their details, promising to rectify the issue, promise that is yet to be fulfilled.
A civil servant who spoke on the issue confidentially for fear of victimisation said many of his colleagues are yet to get anything from the salary ten days into the new month. He described the shocking moment he received the N50 payment alert on his phone.
“I was so shocked when I received the alert of N50 salary. Initially, I thought the bank must have made a mistake. But when I went to my bank, they confirmed that that was what the state government paid me. Honestly, I am very disappointed. N50!? What will I do with N50!”, he noted.
Another Civil servant, from the Ministry of Agriculture that spoke to National Pilot, blamed such blunder on the unfamiliarity of the consultants to terrain of the Kwara civil service and not doing the necessary background checks.
He stated further, “This development is only going to make the life of the state workers, harder, which is the last thing the people need right now, the people are just picking up their lives back after the impasse placed by the covid-19,i don’t think this move by the state government is well thought out, to say the least ”
In the same vein, another civil servant voiced out her frustration at the massive deduction, she experienced in her October pay. She however noted that “The new consultants are not aware of the status quo arrangement in the civil service in respect to salary payment, some colleagues of mine who are supposed to have deduction from their pay due to cooperative dues and loan servicing, which in turn culminated in the surcharging of other civil servants, such as myself”, she submitted.
Another worker simply said, “it will only spell hardship for the people, it is a recipe for untold hardship, because I’m already riddled with debt that I hope to pay with my salary, but the money paid into my account, can’t pay off my debt, talk less of feeding myself and family, I hope the government will look into our plight, as soon as possible”.
However, the Honourable Commissioner for Communication, Mrs Harriet Afolabi-Oshatimehin, admitted to the error which occurs in the payment of salaries, citing the software malfunction of the new consultants as the bane of the problem at hand. She has also said that the problem is being solved at the moment and payment is being made in earnest, according to a statement.