The Bayelsa State Government has approved special allowances for public servants and workers in tertiary institutions, a move expected to increase its monthly salary expenditure by approximately ₦3bn from October 2026.
The new allowances will see workers in tertiary institutions receive more than ₦900m monthly, while other categories of public servants will benefit from additional allowances estimated at ₦2bn.
The Technical Adviser on Treasury, Accounts and Revenue to Governor Douye Diri, Timipre Seipolu, disclosed this on Friday during the state government’s transparency briefing on its income and expenditure for August and September 2026.
Seipolu said the allowances were approved to improve workers’ welfare and recognise the peculiar demands of different professional groups.
He explained that payments to tertiary institution workers would commence in October, while the government had also committed to paying outstanding arrears dating back to January 2026.
According to him, the two allowance packages would jointly increase the state’s monthly salary bill by approximately ₦3bn, excluding the outstanding arrears.
He further disclosed that about 65,411 workers were covered by the state’s salary payment arrangements.
Seipolu noted that public servants in the state operated different salary structures and allowance systems, making it difficult to calculate the total wage bill using a uniform salary estimate.
He listed doctors, nurses, investigators, civil servants, university employees and fire service personnel among the categories of workers with distinct salary structures.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, has dismissed reports alleging that some major government projects had stalled.
She described the reports circulating on social media as misleading, insisting that the projects were progressing according to their respective milestones.
Koku-Obiyai listed the nine-storey State Secretariat building, the rehabilitation of the Light Floor project and the Lagos Road project among the major infrastructure developments ongoing in the state.
She said the government had continued to meet its financial obligations to contractors to ensure the timely completion of the projects.
The commissioner disclosed that she and the Commissioner for Works had inspected the Lagos Road project, where they confirmed that construction had reached an advanced stage.
She urged residents to disregard unverified reports about the projects, assuring them that the Diri administration remained committed to delivering its infrastructure commitments.
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