Plans by the Cross River State Government to effect a 20% cut in the salaries of all categories of political appointees in the state, are being fine tuned and look set to be implemented before the end of June, 2020, sources inside Government House, Calabar, have informed www.calitown.com
The salary cut is entirely linked to the dwindling economic fortunes of the state, brought about by a sharp fall in money accruable to the state from the Federation Account. While the Federal Accounts and Allocation Committee, FAAC, meeting was held yesterday, Friday, May 15, 2020, with states Commissioners of Finance participating online, financial figures that have emerged “leave the state government with the sensible option of a salary cut, to help her attend to other critical areas of the Cross River State economy, not insulated from the effects of the global economic meltdown that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought upon us all”, a source in the Ministry of Finance, Calabar, told us.
For Commissioners and other high ranking political appointees assigned official vehicles, there also are plans in place to monetize such vehicles to this category of appointees with corresponding deductions, over time, from their salaries, used to defray cost, we were also informed. But to several categories of appointees, especially those yet to be paid salaries, more than a month after they were appointed, this is not good news. One, on condition of anonymity, informed that, “…if certain processes were properly activated, we won’t be starting the collection of salaries on a sour note. Some of us have already done our calculations and while there is no hope that we may get paid a backlog of entitlements, it is certain that our salaries will be cut; it is a difficult situation.”
The Ben Ayade administration has a little above 2000 political appointees and economists in the state believe a cut in their wages will temporarily cushion the effects of the current economic meltdown.
