Sokoto State Government has explained that the deduction of salaries of its employees in the state civil service was for loan repayment by the affected staffers.
The government noted that the affected workers have taken multiple loans from financial houses.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance in the State, Abba Muhammed Mualledi, while speaking with newsmen in his office on Wednesday, said the affected staff members in the state had collected loans from one or two financial houses.
According to the PS, “the affected staff members in the state civil service had collected loans from more than one financial house during the previous administration in the state.
“The affected financial house, upon my assumption of office as the permanent secretary in the ministry of finance, wrote a letter demanding a refund of their loans from defaulters.
“From our investigation, the money that was deducted from their salaries in the last six months by the previous administration was not remitted back to the affected financial houses, and that is what necessitated the current issue on the ground.”
The permanent secretary further explained that the ministry is already holding a meeting with the salary department on how to address any of the anomalies as well as regulate the payment accordingly.
“I met with the salary department to discuss how to tackle all these anomalies, and the committee will sit with the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress and the affected financial houses in the state.”
He further explained that the ministry is working with all financial houses in the state to harmonise records of loans to regulate loan acquisition by civil servants in the state.
