The Nation Newspaper

Tag: arrears

  • ‘Osun not owing teachers 28 months arrears’

    ‘Osun not owing teachers 28 months arrears’

    The Statistician-General, State of Osun, Professor Wasiu Gbolagade has debunked media reports making the rounds that the state is owing teachers 28 months salary arrears.

    Prof. Gbolagade in a media release observed that the claim that the state was owing her teachers 28 months half salaries was inaccurate and totally at variance with the situation of things in the state.

    According to him, the bulk of the teachers in the state falls within a salary category that get their full monthly salary and allowances. ‘’the accurate data in the State Bureau of Statistics shows that the Government of State of Osun is not owing salaries of any worker or teachers in the grade level 1 to 7 which falls into 40% of the total population of teachers in the State.’’

    He stated further that only ten percent of teachers in the state falls under the salary modulation system whereby they are paid 75 percent of their monthly emoluments. ‘’workers and teachers on level 8-10 which falls into 10% of the total population of teachers collects 75% of their salaries every month which means government is owning them 25% of their salaries. The categories that falls into level 12-17 are the ones getting half of their emoluments.’’ he noted.

    Professor Gbolagade noted that to demonstrate its commitment to the welfare of workers in the state, the Aregbesola administration, in spite of paucity of funds, paid workers across all grade levels full salary in the month of December 2017.

  • NUT threatens strike over arrears, infrastructural decay

    NUT threatens strike over arrears, infrastructural decay

    • Lists 12 debtor-states

    The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has threatened to embark on a nationwide strike over salary arrears owed by state governors.

    It also said teachers will down tools if infrastructure in public schools does not improve.

    NUT’s National President, Michael Olukoya, stated these in Abuja at the solemn assembly organised by the union.

    He said the union has directed branch chairmen to take stock of states owing salaries and monitor the level of infrastructural development in public schools.

    Olukoya said the union would take action after the state chairmen present their situation reports.

    He expressed displeasure over continued non-payment of salaries and allowances of primary and secondary school teachers in several states across the country.

    States owing salary arrears, according to Olukoya, include Abia, Bayelsa, Benue, Ekiti, Kwara, Ondo, Taraba, Delta, Kaduna, Osun, Nasarawa, Oyo and Kogi.

    “Our appeal to all these states is that they should pay or begin to see the wrath of the Nigerian teachers.

    “We call on the affected state governments to clear the salary arrears and ensure regular payment of the salaries of teachers without further delay.”

    Olukoya said the union would not allow its members in Benue to join the upcoming industrial action because of the current security crisis in the state.

    He said: “They will not join the nationwide strike until their case is debated at the national level.”

    The NUT president also condemned the recent sack of over 21,000 primary school teachers by Kaduna State government.

    He said the sack was done without recourse to the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), an agency mandated to regulate and control teaching profession in the country.

    Olukoya said: “We hereby express our dismay over this show of impunity and lack of respect for the rule of law.

    “We call on the government of Kaduna State to rescind its decision and seek closer ties with relevant bodies and stakeholders and work towards amicable resolution of the issues.”

     

  • Edo to pay 200 pensioners arrears

    Edo State government is to pay the arrears of nearly 200 pensioners after the December 20 and 21 physical and documentary verification for Batch 39 of pensioners, at Imaguero College Hall, Benin City.

    In a statement by the Permanent Secretary and Chairman, Pension Bureau, I.D.S. Juwobor, on behalf of the Head of Service, the government said “the exercise is in continuation of the ongoing payment of pension arrears to government pensioners.”

    He urged pensioners in Batch 39 to present themselves for “physical and documentary verification at Imaguero College Hall, Benin City, on December 20 and 21.”

    Juwobor said the announcement also served to notify pensioners in batches 37 and 38, who failed to participate in the verification held on December 6 and 7 to take advantage of the December 20 and 21 exercise alongside those in Batch 39.

    He said the list of pensioners in batches 37, 38 and 39 will be pasted at the office of the Head of Service today and tomorrow, noting that the required documents for the exercise include “pension authority, retirement letter, letter of first appointment, pension ID card, biometric slip, bank details including bank name and account number.”

    “Upon conclusion of the verification, the arrears will be credited into the pension account of each pensioner, without delay, after due process and documentation,” he added.

    The Governor Godwin Obaseki administration had adopted a phased approach in the payment of pension arrears, which the state had reduced to N3.9 billion from N10 billion.

  • Retirees urge govt to pay 33% pension arrears

    Retirees urge govt to pay 33% pension arrears

    The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has appealed to the Federal Government to expedite action on the payment of 33 per cent arrears of pension increase to pensioners, who retired from the Nigeria Police and other arms of the public service, to make life better and comfortable for them.

    Its President, Dr. Abel Afolayan, who made the appeal in an interview with The Nation in Abuja, urged the government to make provision for the payment of gratuity to pensioners, who retired from service under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) similar to what was obtainable under the Defined Benefit  Scheme (DBS).

    Expressing optimism that the ongoing verification by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) will put an end to incessant verification of pensioners, Afolayan said the government owed 18 months arrears of the 33 per cent to civil service pensioners and 30 months to police and parastatal pensioners.

    He said: “With all the verification exercises, we don’t envisage a situation where there will be incessant verification again once they have a data base of pensioners.

    “We are pleading with the government to expedite action in the payment of 33 per cent arrears of pension increase of 18 months to civil service pensioners and 30 months to police and parastatal pensioners so that the pensioners from there can be comfortable.”

    On pensioners under the CPS, Afolayan said “those who retired under the Contributory Pension Scheme are in two categories. Those who served partly under the DBS and partly under the CPS. The years they served under the DBS is supposed to be taken care of by the federal government.

    Afolayan said: “But that money is not being made available and so, it is creating a lot of problem. That money is running into several billions and so, the Federal Government has agreed to be paying five per cent of monthly salary bill to the Central Bank that offset that pension benefit.

    “The second category are those who spend their entire service years under the CPS. Those one are not supposed to have problem because the employers are supposed to deduct certain percentages from their monthly salary and match it with their contribution.

    “It is eight per cent from your salary and ten per cent from the employer. Once there is no problem with that payment, once you retire,you will start getting your entitlement.

    “Under the DBS, you are paid a bulk sum as gratuity. We are pleading that those under the CPS should also be paid a bulk sum as gratuity by their employers.”

  • N720b subsidy arrears: PENGASSAN alerts on impending mass sack

    N720b subsidy arrears: PENGASSAN alerts on impending mass sack

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called on the Federal Government to settle all debts allegedly owed oil marketers to avert job losses.

    The union said it believed that the payment would engender growth of not only the downstream sector, but all sectors in the industry and develop the economy.

    The senior staff trade union made the call against the backdrop of the threat by the marketers to embark on massive retrenchment of their  employees, if the government refuses settle the over N720 billion subsidy arrears.

    The debts, according to the marketers, are among the outstanding subsidy owed importers of petroleum products, accrued interest on loans from banks and exchange rate differentials, which made them halt importation of refined petroleum products, leaving only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as sole importers.

    A statement signed by the PENGASSAN National Public Relations Officer, Mr. Fortune Obi, urged the government to verify  the claims by the oil marketers and ensure quick settlement of genuine debts.

    “The government should try to separate the genuine claims by the importers from spurious ones and pay them accordingly because we will not like to be engulfed in the mistakes of the past where briefcase marketers milked the nation through dubious subsidy claims.

    “A situation where the workers in the industry bear the brunt of the government failure to honour its obligations as part of the importation deal will be unfair and unacceptable to our Association.

    This is against the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s major policy of job creation,” Obi said.

    He said as much as PENGASSAN would support any move by the government to end subsidy regime and spurious claims by the marketers, it was also canvassing  the payment of debts that could hinder the downstream sector’s growth and attract investments into the sector.

    Obi noted that in the last five years, workforce in the downstream sector, especially the marketing sub sector, depleted by over 70 per cent, adding: “most of them were thrown into the already over-bloated labour market.”

  • Workers vow to tackle govt over promotion arrears

    Frustrated by the Federal Government’s unfulfilled promises to pay promotion arrears, outstanding salaries, and allowances owed federal officers,  the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has resolved to shut government’s agencies, if the debts are not paid on or before,  September 18.

    In a statement in Lagos, the association’s Secretary-General, Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, said the union regretted that, for more than two years, the Federal Government had been promising to pay federal officers their outstanding entitlements.

    “It is rather unfortunate that the same Federal Government that has given state governments bailouts up to three times to settle the entitlements owed their workers, takes delight in punishing its own employees by denying them their legitimate benefits,” the union stated.

    According to ASCSN, the debts owed by the Federal Government include outstanding salaries, promotion arrears, first 28 days allowance on transfer from post, mandatory training allowance of OHCSF 2010, repatriation allowances, burial expenses, and death benefits.

    It recalled that the union had written several letters to the Presidency to settle the debts owed federal officers, but the government has been dilly dallying.

    “Although the Federal Government had issued two different circulars directing the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) to compile the names of their staff that are affected which they did, yet, no payment was made.

    “Even when the government directed the Budget Office to raise virement last year for the payment of the outstanding entitlements, there was no cash backing until the virement lapsed,” the Union lamented.

    It said two months ago, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment informed the union that N10 billion had been earmarked to kick- start the payment, but nothing has happened.

    The union emphasised that the patience of the workers has been exhausted on the matter and that if not for the trade union skills being employed by the leadership of the association, the entire federal public service would have been engulfed by strike.

    “Workers have come to agree that the Federal Government is not in any way serious about paying them their outstanding entitlements.

    “In view of the foregoing, the ASCSN has given the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum with effect from September 8, 2017 within which to settle all the debts owed federal officers failing which a three-day warning strike will start in all the federal MDA’s throughout the country,” the Union said.

    It urged prominent citizens, monarchs, religious leaders and other stakeholders to prevail on the Federal Government to pay the debts owed federal officers.

     

    and not wait until the strike action starts before they begin to plead with the Union to call it off.

  • ‘Fed Govt begins payment of N200b salary arrears, allowances’

    The Federal Government will this month begin payment of unpaid salary arrears and allowances of public servants

    Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) President, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, said the payment of the money, which is over N200 billion, excluding pension, would commence from this month.

    “Recently, we wrote a protest letter to the National Assembly and all the parties involved which include the organised labour, Head of Service, Labour Minister, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate President.

    “The meeting was successful and I am happy to announce that the payment will commence as from this September.

    “I commend the National Assembly, most especially the Senate President for their timelyintervention,” Kaigama said.

    He, however, condemned the delay in the constitution of the 29-member National Minimum Wage Committee and warned the government not to stress the patience of workers beyond limit. He said the minimum wage implementation should be holistic and not selective.

    “You are aware that the issue of minimum wage is very topical. While there was a pronouncement to constitute the committee, they have requested for our list which we have send, therefore the committee need to be inaugurated so that the process can go on.

    “We condemned the delay to constitute the 29-member committee of National Minimum Wage for the country.

    “The Federal Government should not take the patience of workers beyond limit as the wage structure is no longer tenable when viewed against the economic reality on the ground,” Kaigama added.

  • AUPCTRE challenges Fed Govt on workers’ promotion arrears

    AUPCTRE challenges Fed Govt on workers’ promotion arrears

    The Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Technical and Recreational Employees (AUPCTRE) has appealed to the Federal Government to expedite action on the payment of promotion arrears to public servants.

    Its Chairman, Federal Capital Territory Chapter, Mr. Benjamin Anthony, made the appeal in a statement issued in Abuja.

    Anthony said: “The payment will go a long way in alleviating the pains of the workers in view of the current economic crunch.’’

    He praised the Federal Government for the approval of N44 billion for the payment of backlog of promotion arrears, salary shortfalls and other claims owed the federal public servants since year 2012.

    According to him, the present administration deserve a special commendation for the giant stride that will encourage workers to put in their best for the country’s development.

    Anthony said this was in spite of the economic challenges facing the country.

    He also urged AUPCTRE leaders in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure strict compliance and implementation of proper placement of salary steps of workers.

    The AUPCTRE chairman said that a circular from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation dated July 14, 2014 marked “HCSF/CSO/HRM/POL.1402/1/25’’ had directed the implementation.

    He said  the circular was, however, not being implemented by many MDAs as directed by the government.

    Anthony said the union observed with dismay that many organisations claimed ignorance of the circular and, in the process, wrongly placed their workers on salary steps during promotion.

  • ‘FEC working to clear civil servants’ salary arrears’

    THE Federal Government has commenced plans to pay all outstanding salaries of federal civil servants, Head of Service of the Federation Mrs. Winifred Ina-Eta has said..

    She said the move has reached an advanced stage with the intervention of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

    She spoke at an event organised by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) as part of ongoing programmes set to mark the 2017 African Public Service Week in Abuja.

    “We are working very hard with relevant government agencies for the release of all outstanding allowances and related benefits due to civil servants.

    “I am sure you recall that FEC approved a matchup plan for the Federal Ministry of Finance to source funds specially for clearing the whole backlog of our salary arrears and promotion arrears.

     So, very soon, this will commence.”

    On the loan disbursement, she explained that beneficiaries should have at least five years to serve in the civil service and should be contributor to the National Housing Fund.

    She said over N1.166 billion has so far been released to the Federal Government Staff Housing Loan Board (FGSHLB) for the benefits of the people.

    Mrs. Ina-Eta identified partnership as vital to ensuring that the civil servants enjoy certain benefits before retirement from the service.

    She stressed importance of alternative strategies to developing and providing affordable housing as practised abroad, adding that the Federal Government cannot solely fund mass housing programme.

  • ‘Benue needs N40b to clear salary arrears’

    Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has said his administration needs N40 billion to clear backlog of salary.

    Ortom, in a statement yesterday by his media aide, Tahav Agerzuz, denied owing workers up to 10 months at a stretch, saying he had not breached his agreement with labour leaders concerning the mode of salary payment.

    According to him, it is the accumulation of the unpaid months that gave the impression of 10 months at a stretch.

    The governor regretted that the N8.2 billion inherited wage bill compounded the financial situation, saying his administration had, however, reduced the wage bill to N7.8 billion.

    He added that the recovery of looted funds will address challenges of unpaid salaries.

    According to him, N107 billion was looted from the government’s coffers and one of the persons indicted refunded N370 million.

    He added that the diverted N4.5 billion bond was recovered and channelled to its original purpose.

    “I have kept my agreement with labour leaders, that as a result of insufficient funds, the federal allocation of two months would be combined to pay one-month complete salary for workers,” Ortom said.