From Seyi Tayese, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State Government on Friday said the total salary-related items to civil servants in the state was N13.2 billion as at the month of September 2026.
The salary related which cover sixty five thousand four hundred and eleven civil servants (65,411), covered September which includes, 8 billion; salary arrears, 208 million; political appointees, 2 billion; gratuity, 200 million; pension arrears, 200 million; grants to tertiary institutions, 2 billion 61 million; support to primary school teachers, 251 million; coppers, 73 million; minimum wage arrears, 50 million. “This brings total salary-related items to 13.2 billion”.
Given the income and expenditures for the month of August and September 2026, the Technical Adviser to the governor on Treasury and Account Mr. Timinipre Seipulo said, it received a total of N183.28 billion in revenue from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and other sources in August and September 2026, while reaffirming its commitment to completing ongoing infrastructure projects and improving workers’ welfare.
Presenting the income and expenditure for the two months, Timipre Seipulo said, Bayelsa received a gross FAAC inflow of N79.20 billion in August, comprising N12.71 billion from statutory allocation, N50.14 billion from derivation revenue and N16.36 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT),after deductions at source of N993 million, the state’s net FAAC receipt stood at N78.21 billion.
The state also recorded additional receipts from internally generated revenue, infrastructure development funds, excess crude refunds and other sources, bringing its total receipts for August to approximately N99.21 billion.
For September, Seipolu said the state received a gross FAAC allocation of N56.60 billion, comprising N8.6 billion in statutory allocation, N39.32 billion from derivation and N8.7 billion from VAT.
“He explained that after deductions, the net FAAC inflow stood at approximately N55.05 billion, while additional revenue from internally generated revenue, infrastructure development funds, natural resources development, the State Employment and Expenditure for Results (SEEFOR) programme and other sources increased the state’s total receipts to about N84.07 billion.”
The presentation showed that the government spent N7.26 billion on recurrent expenditure and N28.36 billion on capital projects in September, bringing the combined expenditure to N35.62 billion.
“Seipolu further disclosed that the state had a closing balance of approximately N59.04 billion at the end of september,however, he explained that between the end of september and october 19, before the next FAAC allocation was received, the government had spent about N18.9 billion on capital projects and N4.9 billion on recurrent obligations.”
He said the balance consequently stood at approximately N35.5 billion as of October 19, with N24 billion retained in the capital projects account to support ongoing infrastructure development.
According to him, the funds were not idle resources but were being deployed to finance government obligations and ongoing projects pending subsequent FAAC allocations,on workers’ welfare, the government clarified that different categories of public servants operated under distinct salary structures and allowance arrangements.
It explained that doctors, nurses, investigators, civil servants, university employees and fire service personnel had different remuneration structures, making it inappropriate to calculate the state’s wage bill using a uniform salary estimate.
The government added that professionals such as doctors, nurses and investigators received special allowances in addition to their regular salaries to recognise the peculiar demands of their duties.
It also announced that approved special allowances for workers in tertiary institutions would commence in October, with the government committing to pay outstanding arrears dating back to January 2026.
“The allowances for tertiary institution workers are expected to increase the monthly wage bill by more than N900 million, while the additional peculiar allowances for other public servants are projected to raise monthly salary expenditure by approximately N2 billion.”
The government said the two adjustments would increase the state’s monthly wage bill by about N3 billion, excluding the outstanding arrears,it maintained that the financial disclosure was part of its commitment to transparency and accountability.
At end of September 2026, the state recorded surplus of N28.9b.
Speaking earlier,the commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, said
the present administration deliberately sustained the transparency as a covenant with the people to “govern openly, to account truthfully and to listen attentively. Transparency is not an event. It is our own culture”.
“Every project we commissioned, every kobo we spend, and every policy we implement, we bring to the members of the public through you, members of the Fort Estate of the Realm, to the people. After all, as a government, we are not
“Koku-Obiyai maintained that ongoing projects were progressing according to schedule, stressing that the government had continued to meet its financial obligations to contractors to ensure their timely completion.”
“She listed the nine-storey State Secretariat building, the rehabilitation of the Light Floor project and the Lagos road project among the major infrastructure projects making progress,
according to her, an inspection visit conducted by the commissioner for works and other government officials confirmed that the Lagos road project had reached an advanced stage of implementation.”
She described the reports alleging the collapse of major projects as misleading, insisting that the government remained committed to delivering its development agenda.
