BREAKING NEWS, Politics
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THE Bayelsa State government is unhappy about frequent protests by various aggrieved groups over the welfare of pensioners in the state.
In a statement issued on Monday, February 29, by Daniel Iworiso-Markson, chief press secretary to Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, said the state government was committed to discharging its obligation to the affected pensioners.
Besides, the statement said that government and representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC; Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, and other stakeholders were already holding talks on payment of arrears owed pensioners in the state.
According to him, Governor Dickson places very high premium on the payment of pensioners and was doing that diligently, until the sharp drop in the monthly revenues accruing to the state from the federation accounts allocation committee.
Iworiso-Markson said despite the significant drop in revenue, a committee of senior citizens in Bayelsan State, had been set up to proffer lasting solution to the problem of pensioners.
He advised pensioners not to allow themselves to be used by persons, who do not mean well for them, stressing that, the government was always open for dialogue with aggrieved groups, no matter the magnitude of the problem at stake.
The Bayelsa State government also condemned in strong terms, rumours that the state government had hired thugs to disrupt and beat up a group of pensioners, who embarked on a peaceful protest to the Government House, Yenagoa.
Describing the report as totally false and baseless, Iworiso-Markson stated that, the report was not only a mischievous figment of the imagination of the writer that was intended to smear the rising profile of Governor Dickson.
He also blamed the latest protests on some misguided politicians, who were bent on “rubbishing the laudable achievements of the Governor for what is clearly their selfish aims.”
The government, he said, would not give in to cheap blackmail, no matter the persons that are involved.
— Mar 2, 2016 @ 12:10 GMT
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