I have not received any salary as governor – Lalong

Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau says he has not received
salary as the governor since he assumed office on May 29.
Lalong made this known on Sunday in a media parley with
journalists in the state.

The governor explained that he decided not take any salary
because his focus was to first settle the backlog of salaries
owed civil servants incurred before he assumed the
leadership of the state.
“We want to take care of the salaries of civil servants first
before we look at ourselves.
“We are yet to constitute the cabinet because we inherited a
very huge debt, as soon as the debts are reduced we will
constitute the cabinet,’’ he explained.
He explained that the delay in the constitution of the
cabinet was deliberate and mostly to save cost.
Meanwhile, Lalong had appealed journalists to be fair in
their reportage as some of the reports that go to the press are
not true reflection of the situation.
According to the governor, the recent reports that state
government was not doing anything regarding the security
situation bedevilling the state was untrue.
“What we read in the papers is not the true reflection of the
situation, because security is our number one priority, the
state government in collaboration with Operation Safe
Heaven has gone very far.
“We have already put in a lot and we are not relenting. Let
us be patient, we will do our best to protect the lives of the
people of Plateau as that is the essence of government
anywhere in the world,’’ he said.
The governor explained that after series of consultations
with the Fulani and Berom elders they have decided to set
up a 14-man peace committee.
“The committee witnessed a setback after as soon as it was
constituted because of series of attacks that rocked the area
but they have resumed.
“We learnt that they have made some progress and have
taken some far reaching decisions which we believe would
help in ending the crises,’’ he added.
Lalong, however, appreciated the journalists for their
contribution to the sustenance of peace in the state.
He said that elections in the state wouldn’t have been
peaceful if the reports of the journalists in the state were
meant for peace.
Mr Yakubu Taddy, Chairman, Nigerian Union of Journalists
(NUJ), Plateau Council, commended the government for the
parley, descriding the media interaction was a good forum
for accountability.
Taddy, who called for a quarterly interaction between
journalists and the governor, said that such forum would do
away rumours that make the rounds.
8:47 am