The Nation Newspaper

Tag: allowances

  • Trade ministry workers protest non-payment of salaries, allowances

    Workers in the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment last week protested in Abuja the non-payment of their salaries and allowances, calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to do something.

    After many months of bottled up annoyance and frustration, the workers marched and danced to the beating of drums.

    The workers under the aegis of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria Association of the Ministry took to the street in protest, singing and also dancing.

    Addressing reporters during the protest, the Secretary of the workers’ union, Comrade Alimi Olanrewaju, alleged that the Minister has turned the ministry into a private business.

    He said: “The protest may not be unconnected with the affairs of the ministry. Our minister has absconded from the ministry on notice. He is operating from Bank of Industry (BoI) in Abuja. For the past three to four months, he has been operating from an unknown office, which is why we are here to register our displeasure about his attitude and that of the Permanent Secretary of the ministry in relation to our welfare.

    “We are here to demand for our outstanding arrears and other benefits. Nobody has been trained in connection to money allocated to the ministry; there is serious infrastructural decay in the ministry, the ministry building is an eyesore, the minister is spending hundreds of millions to call for foreign investors that have not yielded any benefit to the country. “

    Reacting, a source from the ministry, who pleaded anonymity, stated that there was no protest . He said contrary to what was shown on television and carried by some papers, there was no protest, but mere gang-up.

  • Reps: non-payment of allowances didn’t stall holiday, oversight

    Members of the House of Representatives have debunked insinuations that their proposed break is being stalled by the non-payment of their third quarter allowances.

    According to the House, lack of cash was not responsible for its refusal to embark on Ramadan break.

    Ramadan begins this week and usually members go on recess during the period.

    The lawmakers also said the proposed oversight on the 2013 budget was not affected by the non- availability of funds.

    The Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, had on June 25, during the opening of the third session of the seventh Assembly, said the House would suspend plenary and embark on an oversight of the 2013 budget.

    According to him, this would not only promote accountability, probity and good governance, but also “to hold tenaciously the representation duty of promoting and protecting the interest of our constituents and Nigerians.”

    It was learnt that the oversight, which should have begun last week, had been put on hold, except for that of the Committee on Judiciary.

    Sources said members have said there won’t go on break, if their allowances were not paid.

    But the lawmakers denied that funds were the reason for the delay in oversight or recess.

    One of the lawmakers said members in the Science and Technology Committee, headed by Biodun Akinlade, were on oversight in Lagos.

    Another member said if funds were the issue, the Committee on Judiciary would not have been on oversight as it is now.

    He added: “It is instructive to note that the House usually goes on break a week or more into the Ramadan season and hence it could not have been lack of payment of allowances that is holding us back.

    “You know that the oversight is in phases and requires planning. The Speaker has announced it and definitely we are going to check out the level of the implementation of the budget, but don’t forget that there is also the aspect of logistics.”

  • ASUU begins indefinite strike over unpaid allowances, others

    ASUU begins indefinite strike over unpaid allowances, others

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday declared an indefinite strike.

    The union adopted a resolution to go on strike after its ASUU-NEC meeting at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, from Sunday till yesterday.

    Fifty-one of the union’s 53 branches unanimously agreed to embark on the strike.

    The action, The Nation learnt, followed the default by the Federal Government to honour the Academic Earned Allowance (AEA) which formed a component of the 2009 agreement the government signed with the union.

    Declaring the strike, ASUU Chairman at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter, Dr Karo Ogbinaka, told reporters yesterday that the strike was a “painful yet inevitable decision”.

    He said ASUU was tired of the government’s inconsistency, adding that the union could no longer tolerate the insults.

    Throwing more light on the AEA, Ogbinaka said it includes allowances paid as part of excess work load responsibility allowance and the allowance for supervision of post-graduate programmes, for lecturers, heads of departments (HoDs), deans, examination officers, among others.

    He said the highest AEA is N12,500 per month, wondering why it was difficult for the government to live up to its promises.

    Ogbinaka recalled that following the 2009 agreement, the Federal Government entered into an MoU with the ASUU and other academic bodies.

    The union leader said after negotiation, the government agreed to also support tertiary education with N100.billion.

    He added: “Later, the government came out to say N100 billion was too much and might cause inflation. We again came down to N80 billion. But to our surprise, the Minister of Education and the NUC told us that the money was not included in the budget. Later, they promised it will be included in the supplementary budget.

    “But later, the government said it could only pay 50 per cent of the N80 billion, which is about one quarter of the total amount. To complicate matter, the government said it would pay only one-off while universities would then continue to pay the rest.

    “We felt this is a betrayal of the agreement and this is what forced us to convene this NEC meeting where 51 of our 53 branches nationwide unanimously agreed that the strike is the only solution.”

    ASUU National President, Dr Nasir Isa, told our reporter on phone that since 2009, no academic staff has been paid the allowance.

    He said ASUU has made several moves, including a warning strike but government remains adamant.

    Dr Nasir added that universities are meant to be universal in nature, noting that Nigerian universities appear to be an exception owing to poor funding and lack of standards.

    Nasir said Responsibility Allowance ASUU negotiated with government is N12 per month, while supervision of PhD is N15 monthly.

    “The Federal Government initially felt we exaggerated the level of decay in the universities until it set up the NEEDS Assessment committee last year which visited some of our universities nationwide and saw the embarrassing sight of some of our infrastructures.

    “From 2007 when the MoU was reached till date, government has not paid any allowance on masters or PhD programmes. That is why our professors are reluctant to supervise masters or PhD thesis. Aside Academic Earned Allowance will attract many foreign students and lecturers here. This is one of the reasons why we do not have academic scholars from overseas.”

     

     

  • Five pro-Wike lawmakers allege non-payment of allowances

    Five pro-Wike lawmakers allege non-payment of allowances

    •Speaker: they’re lying

    Five members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who are on the side of the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, have alleged that their monthly allowances and other entitlements have been withdrawn since the political crisis started in the state.

    The leader of the group, Evans Bipi, who spoke in Port Harcourt yesterday accused the government of ordering the withholding of their allowances and entitlements.

    Bipi, who fingered Governor Rotimi Amaechi, said their allowances and security votes have been withdrawn by the House on the orders of the governor.

    He said: “Our constituency projects have been halted. As I speak to you now, go and ask if our allowances have been paid. I hereby use this medium to tell governor Rotimi Amaechi to release our allowances.

    “The other 27 members have been paid. Why are they holding our own allowances?”

    The lawmaker, who represents Ogu/Bolo constituency, said the move by the governor to challenge his suspension from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in court is a wrong one.

    He said: “The party has stated in its constitution that it can expel any member found wanting. So, why is Amaechi crying foul over his suspension? Did he give the Obio/Akpor chairman, the vice chairman and the 17 councillors a fair hearing before suspending them? This was how he suspended former Okrika Local Government Area chairman.”

    But Speaker Otelemaba Dan-Amachree, said the five pro-Wike lawmakers are crying wolf where none exists because no lawmaker has been paid since the crisis started.

    The Speaker, who spoke through his Press Secretary, Jim Opiki, denied that the governor ordered the withholding of the lawmakers’ allowances and entitlements.

    He said the Assembly has not been sitting due to the security challenges in the state and wondered how their allowances and entitlements will be paid when the Assembly is on recess.

    “Nobody in the Assembly has been paid any allowance; everybody will be paid as soon as the House reconvenes.”

  • ITF training: Youths protest non- payment of allowances

    No  fewer than 1,000 youths trained by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) under the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) yesterday protested the non-payment of their allowances after passing out of a 3-month intensive training in Tilling and Welding/Fabrication.

    They vowed to deal with officials of the ITF for not paying their allowances.

    Spokesperson of the youths and Course Captain of the Tilling, Okafor Ikenna, lamented the equipment for empowerment promised them were not given to anybody at the end of the training.

    ”We applaud this President Goodluck Jonathan- led federal government initiative to empower our youths in skill development and the collaborative efforts of the state government led by Governor Peter Obi.

    “But without the empowerment facilities they promised us after learning then it is not worth the efforts.”

    He went on: ”We did not see any equipment and we suspect they are not telling us the truth.

    “We are angry by the way they treated us and we are not happy. They are supposed to give us money for the month of March but they did not give us.”

    “Again, they are suppose to give us bulk money at least N200, 000 or less but we are not given a dime.

    Another trainee, Chinedu Azudialu, said: ”They should pay us our allowances of N5, 000 a month and other things promised us.

    But officials of the ITF maintained that there is no cause for alarm as everybody would be paid his or her dues.

    Area Manager of ITF, Mrs. Linda Egbeonu and Head of Revenue Inspectorate and Compliance, Godson Onyedumekwu, tasked the trainees to be employers of labour and do the nation proud.

     

  • Kwara pays athletes’ outstanding allowances

    Kwara pays athletes’ outstanding allowances

    The Kwara Government has paid all the outstanding allowances of the state athletes ahead of their trip to the 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos.

    Coach Tunde Kazeem, Director of the State Sports Council, disclosed this on Thursday in Ilorin, during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    Kazeem said that all the athletes and officials were in closed camping for 10 days, ahead of the sports fiesta, tagged “Eko 2012,” holding from Nov. 27 to Dec. 9 in Lagos.

    He boasted that the state would improve on its performance at the 17th edition of the fiesta in Port Harcourt in 2011.

    NAN recalls that Kwara finished in the 18th position on the medals table in Port Harcourt, having won 23 medals, including five gold, six silver and 12 bronze.

    The director said: “The entire requirements in terms of allowances and equipment have been met. I want to thank the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulfatai Ahmed, for providing us the enabling environment and giving us the moral and financial support to excel at the Games.

    “Any time from now, the chairman of the sports council and I will be attending an international seminar in preparation for the competition in Lagos,’’ he said.

    Kazeem disclosed that the state would compete in 15 sports events with 113 athletes, saying that Kwara would only compete in those events where it had a comparative advantage.

    “You know that sports nowadays, especially sports festival is no more a jamboree. You only go with those sports where you have a comparative advantage; where you have the strength to mop up some medals.

    “This is the reason we are going with 15 sports out of the 27 and by the grace of God, we hope that we are going to improve on our past effort.

    “The athletes and officials are ready to proceed to Lagos. We intend to leave on Sunday morning,’’ he said.

  • ‘No fund to payN1.44b teachers outstanding allowances’

    The Federal Government has no funds to pay teachers’ N1.44billion outstanding allowances owed them for the 2011 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) training programme.

    The Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, stated this in Abuja at a meeting between the leadership of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and National Teachers Institute (NTI).

    He said the meeting was part of efforts to resolve the dispute between the two groups.

    NTI in 2011 trained 125,000 teachers under the 2011 Federal Government MDGs teachers’ training.

    The NUT leadership accused the institute of paying each trainee only N2,500 as stipend for fare and accommodation for the six-day training instead of the approved N14,000 per participant.

    The National President of NUT, Mr Michael Olukoya, had accused NTI of shortchanging the teachers of about N11,500 each, which was the balance of the N14, 000 per teacher.

    However, Wike said he had written to the Ministry of Finance for the balance.

    “The reply I got indicated that Federal Ministry of Finance has no fund now to pay the outstanding balance.

    “I just want to make it clear that the funds were not withheld by NTI as teachers have alleged, but I advised NTI not to repeat similar mistake by getting involved in a programme without adequate cash-backing,” he said.

    Wike appealed to the teachers for understanding and urged them to participate in this year’s programme. He said efforts would be made to pay the debt.

    The minister also said he had also written to President Goodluck Jonathan on the issue as directed by the Ministry of Finance because last year’s budget had been mopped up.

    He noted that budgeting had been one of the problems in Nigeria due to the slow release of funds.

    “I want to assure all teachers that this year, training will be based on the available resources,” the minister said.

    Olukoya said unless the arrears were paid, teachers would boycott this year’s training.

    He said the mandate of the NUT National Executive Council was clear that the N11,500 balance owed each teacher must be paid for teachers to participate in the programme.

     

  • ‘No funds for workers’ allowances’

    THE Vice-Chancellor of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Prof. Femi Mimiko, has said the university has no funds to pay the arrears of hazard allowances some workers of the university are agitating for.

    The Vice-Chancellor is also claiming that the three-day protest by the workers on the platform of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), which became violent, was politically motivated.

    The workers belong to the Non Academic Staff Union (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the National Association of Academic Technicians (NAAT).

    In an interview with The Nation, Mimiko said AAUA is one of the few universities that pay the allowances to all categories of staff. But the university cannot afford to pay arrears that would cost billions of naira,” he said.

    “The University cannot use funds meant for capital projects to pay the arrears of the allowance which the three non- teaching unions of the institution were agitating for their members,” he said

    The VC noted that it was true that the allowance was negotiated by the Federal Government but that only 10 of the 124 universities in the country, including AAUA, had started implementing the payment.

    He also said that AAUA was the first state university to pay the allowance to all categories of workers in the institution instead of only those who carry out duties considered to be hazardous. Mimiko added that five out of the universities in the country including his institution had fully implemented the payment.

    He said, “While many of these universities that are paying the allowance paid only to few of their staff, our own university was one of the five that is paying to all non teaching staff and full payment started since April 2012. The payment of the hazard allowance was in addition to the implementation of the peculiar allowance that the university started paying in April 2010, which many conventional universities have not even paid.”

    Mimiko expressed concern that the workers rejected all the options presented to them to allow him impute it into the government’s supplementary budget if any or include it in the next year’s budget of the institution fell on the deaf ears of the unions.

    Mimiko said “there is nowhere such money could be raised in this last quarter of the year to pay the 33 months arrears which runs into billions of naira.”

    He also accused the workers of embarking on a protest not backed by the national leadership of the unions, who he had met over their grievances.

    During the protest, the workers had paralysed academic activities as they chanted songs against the management of the institution headed by Prof. Femi Mimiko, a younger brother to the state Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko

    In a letter of notice earlier sent to the Vice-Chancellor by the NASU chairman, Mr. Bamidele Aguda, the unions agitated for better condition of service and career structure, complained of inconclusive 2010/2011 session promotion, retirement of staff at 60 years, and implementation of financial policies and its arrears.

    Other grievances are non payment of peculiar arrears to retirees and selective victimization of staff.

    Other union leaders that were among the protesters were SSANU chairman, Mr. Ayo Falade and that of NAAT, Mr. Samuel Giwa.

    The aggrieved AAUA workers, vowed to resist any attempt by the University authority to deny them their entitlements saying “we will make the institution unconducive for academic activities, if all our needs are not met.

    The protest took a dramatic dimension when the aggrieved workers held Mimiko and his the management team hostage for hours, throwing stones and other dangerous objects at the building that houses his office. He was finally able to leave when some top officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) intervened but two of the security officials were also rough-handled.

    In his address to the striking workers, the Joint Action Committee[JAC] Chairman, Ayo Falade, had said that his members would leave no stone unturned to collect the arrears, noting that contrary to the claim by the University management, his union, SSANU, indeed had the approval of its national executive to embark on the protest.