Why Benue Civil Servants will spend Christmas without salaries – Ortom

Benue State Government says the delay in payment of December 2020 salaries is occasioned by garnishee court orders on all government accounts.

Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Rt. Hon. Ngunan Addingi who briefed journalists today at the Benue Peoples House Makurdi said some aggrieved non indigenes working in the state who were redeployed to their states in 2007 under the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB had taken the State Government to court to protest the action.

Consequently in 2008, the court in the case between Juliana Igweka and 95 others versus SUBEB and Attorney General of Benue State, declared that the affected persons be reinstated in the civil service, pointing out that counsels to the applicants in turn went back to court asking for monetary compensation which was not part of the original judgment.

Mrs. Addingi noted that after the applicants failed to get the courts to do their wish in the state, they, through Barrister Ucha Ulegede and J.S. Okutepa, SAN, went to different courts in Nasarawa and Federal Capital Territory to secure garnishee orders on all accounts of the state which was served yesterday, thereby crippling all government activities including payment of salaries.

Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Michael Gusa described the judgment as fraudulent, saying the courts lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter, moreso that the initial judgment had no monetary attachment.

Barrister Gusa noted that the State Government had initiated processes to set aside the garnishee orders as soon as possible, stressing that government would also approach the National Judicial Council for necessary action against the judges involved.