Despite the state’s financial difficulties, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom ruled out a pay cut for employees on Sunday.
The state, which is third in the nation behind Lagos and Rivers States, offers the highest salary in the north.
Ortom, a participant on the Television Continental (TVC) interactive programme Journalists’ Hangout, bemoaned the state’s high salary costs as a major factor in its financial difficulties.
The governor said: “I prioritize the issue of payment of salaries because Benue State is a state where the economy is driven by peasant farmers and actively contributed by the civil service. So when you don’t pay salaries there is a problem.
“We do not want our youths to be redundant. We have the Benue State University, we have the University of Agriculture and other tertiary institutions and every year we have thousands of our children graduating and sometimes you will want to engage them.
“But many people may not be aware of this, Benue State is paying the highest salary in the north. In Nigeria, Benue State is paying the highest after Lagos and Rivers States.
“But we have decided that, because of the inflation and several other factors, you cannot talk about even reducing the salaries. You cannot do that because I go to the markets and I know what the cost of goods and services are in our country today. So there is no way I can talk about reducing the salaries of civil servants.”
TV Presenter/ Content Writer