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FCT
Abuja Teachers down tools over unpaid allowances
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Workers in some states
across the country yesterday got furious over their unpaid salaries. They
protested.
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| Edo
State LG workers clad in black, protest non-payment of salaries
for several months |
The
Nation report continues:
Governors
and top civil servants were put under pressure in Ondo, Taraba, Gombe, Bayelsa
and Zamfara states as workers got anxious over an imminent Christmas celebration
on Sunday.
President
Muhammadu Buhari also yesterday admonished governors to pay workers from the ₦525b
debt-service refund which the states have been getting. He declared as
unacceptable the situation in which workers are owed salaries for months.
In
Ondo State, workers led the Accountant General to the bank to facilitate the
payment of one month salary approved by Governor Olusegun Mimiko out of the
seven months they are being owed.
Bayelsa
workers were angry when they failed to get money from the bank after the
government announced the payment of salaries.
Workers
shut down the government secretariat in Taraba over unpaid eight months wages.
There were protests in Zamfara and Gombe states.
Taraba
workers under the auspices of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council
(JPSNC) shut down the secretariat to protest the non-payment of salaries and
pension.
Nigeria
Labour Congress (NLC) Chairman Peter Gambo, who addressed the protesting
workers at the gate of the secretariat, decried what he called the government’s
continued insensitivity to their plight.
On
Monday, the Government House was shut down by protesting footballers, who were
demanding payment of their 21 months salaries.
Gambo
listed the issues in dispute as “illegal deductions from salaries, nonpayment
of local government workers and teachers for eight months and subjection of
workers to meaningless screening and futile verification by the government.”
But
Governor Darius Ishaku insisted the state is not owing workers.
“I
am not owing anybody,” he told the House of Assembly while presenting the 2017
appropriation bill yesterday.
But
the NLC Chairman alleged that union dues were deducted indiscriminately without
being remitted to the unions.
“The
government has shown that the welfare of workers is not its priority.
“Workers
have been subjected to all kinds of belittling treatments in the name of
screening and verifications that have not yielded any fruits apart from
subjecting workers to extreme hardship.
Head
of Service Samuel Angyu, who addressed the workers, said the government was
aware of the complaints and was already putting measures in place to address
the grievances.
The
protesters were carrying placards with inscriptions, such as “One year of
impunity and insensitivity must stop”; “Salary is a right not a privilege”;
“Starter Up must go”; “ Pensioners have right to a dignified living, not
humiliation from the government they served”, among others.
Ondo
State workers took Account-General (AG) Felix Ajibokun to the bank to begin the
payment of workers’ salaries.
The
aggrieved workers, who had earlier picketed the A-G’s office at Alagbaka,
Akure, the state capital, said they were being owed six months salaries.
They
were led by their Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) Chairman, Mr. Sunday Adeleye,
the State chairmanship of the NLC, Mrs.Bosede Daramola, and other union chiefs.
According
to them, they “begged” the government for one month salary to enable them
celebrate Christmas, adding that Governor Olusegun Mimiko directed the AG to
pay them, but Ajibokun, who is expected to retire from service today, allegedly
refused to pay.
Adeleye
told reporters: “About four days ago, we met with the governor and the
Commissioner for Finance. They directed the AG to pay the workers’ salaries so
that everybody could go home with something.
“Since
then, we have been coming here, but he has been avoiding us, until today
(yesterday) when we asked him when he would pay us, but he said no worker will
be paid until after Christmas.
“For
your information, this is a man who will be retiring from service
tomorrow(today) and the system is this, he is the only one who has the legal
right to pay workers and the moment he retires, it will take the government up
to three weeks to appoint another AG.
“Let
me tell you, people are dying. What manner of parent are you, when you cannot
buy your child a T-shirt?
“We
will continue to keep vigil on these premises until the AG is ready to pay the
workers.”
Ajibokun,
however, blamed poor banking network for the delay in payment.
In
Bayelsa, the government also blamed it all on the banks.
A
statement yesterday by Commissioner for Finance Maxwell Ebibai said the
inability to pay workers was due to “lack of cash in various banks in the
state.
“It
is indeed sad but also worthy to note that it is not the fault of the state
government as it is on record that the governor did fulfil his promise of
ensuring that civil servants get their salaries before the Yuletide
celebration, but the situation that is been faced right now in the banks is
applicable in other states and not only in Bayelsa State.”
He
said the government had been interfacing with “the banks to ensure that civil
/public servants and Bayelsans in general would receive their entitlement to
ease the pain and stress that they may face.”
In
Zamfara, the 1,400-yet-to-be-paid workers since 2014 protested.
The
workers, under the aegis of “May 2014 Civil Service Forum (G1400)’’, took their
protest to the House of Assembly.
The
leader of the forum, Luqman Majidadi, told reporters that legal action remained
the only option left for the workers, having exhausted all other avenues in the
last two- and-a-half years.
He
said: “We have notified all relevant government agencies, held interactions
with top government officials, traditional and religious leaders and other
stakeholders to no avail. We have now resolved to seek other means of seeking
redress.”
Majidadi
condemned how Governor Abdulaziz Yari had treated the workers since their
recruitment in 2014.
“We
were recruited after a very thorough screening conducted by the State Civil
Service Commission in May 2014. The process was very tedious, because after
obtaining the application forms for free, we sat for a written examination,
interviewed and we went through eight screenings before collecting our
appointment letters. For 32 months, we have not been paid any salaries,” he
said.
House
Committee on Civil Services Chairman Lawal Dogon-Kade, said the lawmakers were
working hard to ensure that the impasse was resolved.
In
Adamawa, Governor Mohammed Bindow promised to pay the outstanding four months
salaries of teachers.
Bindow,
who did not however specify a date, made the promise in Girei while addressing
staff of Government Secondary School, Girei, during a visit to the school.
He
said: “We have declared a state of emergency on education and the welfare of
teachers is very important for it to succeed.
“I
want to assure all teachers in Adamawa that all their arrears will be paid very
soon,” Bindow said.
Teachers
in Gombe State yesterday cried out over unpaid three to four months salaries.
They
urged Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo to consider the harsh economy and pay their
salaries, especially now at Christmas.
The
teachers, who pleaded for anonymity, said they had not been paid in the last
three to four months and a solution is not in sight.
Nigeria
Union of Teachers (NUT) Chairman Usman Dauda Kwadon, pleaded for patience,
saying that the situation would soon be resolved.
He
said the first set of teachers was owed about six to seven months because they
banked with community and micro-finance banks which were not online.
Kwadon
said that the problem had been resolved and their salaries had started coming
in. “Some received two months once and others one month,” he said.
The
chairman added that the second category were the 3,800 whose names were removed
from the payroll because they were named as ghost workers due to a mix-up in
the list submitted for the workers’ verification.
The committee constituted to look into their case had finished its work and was compiling its report, he said.
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