The Nation Newspaper

Tag: non-payment

  • 700 schools shut for non-payment of fees

    700 schools shut for non-payment of fees

    Osun State Internal Revenue Service (OIRS) has sealed off over 700 private nursery, primary and secondary schools for non-payment of registration fees and taxes.

    Acting Chairman Bicci Alli said at a news briefing in Osogbo that the institutions disregarded paying or renewing registration fees.

    Alli, who said the schools operated for years without licences, added that the government was left with no option but to shut them.

    He said the exercise was to recoup taxes.

    The acting chairman urged proprietors to pay levies and taxes to support government’s effort to improve education standard.

  • NLC, TUC, others picket firm for alleged non-payment of salary

    NLC, TUC, others picket firm for alleged non-payment of salary

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Trade Union Congress, TUC United Action for Democracy (UAD) and workers of Automobile, Boatyards, Transport Equipment and Allied Senior Staff Association (AUTOBATE) have picketed Galba Nigerian Plc over alleged non-payment of salaries. Workers alleged that they are being owed 19 months salary.

    The unions, which barricaded the entrance to the company, displayed placards with inscriptions such as, “Stop the violation of condition of service,” “It is a crime to owe workers;” “No pay, no more work;”said the picketing was to attract attention to the plight of the workers.

    The branch chairman of AUTOBATE in Galba, Comrade Innocent Udongfo, accused the company of negligence and urged it to meet the demands of the workers.

    Udongfo said: “We can no longer pay our rents and our children are out of school. We are calling on the management to pay our salaries from 2015 till today. And to remit all our union dues from 2010 till date. They should implement our total emolument of the condition of service duly signed in the employment manual.

    “Several negotiations with Galba management could not work because they always want to play over our intelligence. They don’t even listen to us. Anytime we have opportunity to meet with the management they will walk us out.”

    The General Secretary of AUTOBATE, Mr. Sola Olorunfemi, explained the union had made several attempt to resolve the issue but regretted that Galba had avoided the invitations.

    Olorunfemi said, “We came all the way from Lagos after all efforts engage the Galba management in meaningful discussion proved abortive. They owe the workers since 2015 November. We have made the TUC in River State to dialogue with the company over this matter. But the management has been playing pranks for over 18 months now in order not to get this salaries paid.

    “We have recorded about five persons dead over the level of suffering inflicted on the workers by the company. We will hold this company hostage, there will be no practical operation in this premises until our demand are met.

    However, calls made to the Managing Director of Galba Nigerian Plc, Mr. Mike Appia, to get the company’s reaction were neither picked nor returned, but Administrative Officer of the firm, Mr. Dan Adi, said has nothing to say on the claims of the staff members.

  • Ex-militants decry non-payment of allowances

    ‘From all indications, our ordeal is not unconnected with our refusal to support his preferred governorship candidate in the last election in Ondo State, Mr Eyitayo Jegede (SAN). Since the election, Ajube has threatened to deal with all those who worked for the APC candidate and now Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu’

    Some ex-militants from Bolowou community in Ese-Edo Local Government Area of Ondo State have raised the alarm over non-payment of their N65, 000 monthly amnesty stipends.
    The affected ex-militants, numbering 25, said they became worried when they were not paid alongside other beneficiaries of the scheme in the council who had received alerts on their bank accounts.
    They alleged that they were being victimised due to their decision to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) during last year’s governorship election.
    Ese-Odo has always been a stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but the APC was victorious in the council during the last gubernatorial polls.
    They also alleged that the former Western Fringe Commander of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Mr Bibopere Ajube, alias General Shoot at Sight, is the mastermind of the stoppage of their allowances.
    A statement jointly signed by two of the ex-militants, Jamin Wariebi and Lubi Timiakirimni said Ajube was punishing them over their refusalý to support the governorship candidate of the PDP, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) in the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State.
    They, therefore, threatened to embark on a peaceful protest at Bolowou if their allowances remained unpaid.
    The statement reads: ‘’We are worried and constrained to alert the nation that a former MEND commander, Bibopere Ajube, aka General Shoot at Sight, has stopped the payment of our N65,000 monthly stipends with the collaborating of the programme’s coordinator, Brigadier- General Paul Boroh (rtd).
    ‘’All other beneficiaries of the programme have been paid, but to our surprise, ours was not and we were informed by competent sources at the Amnesty Office that Ajube went to the coordinator to delist us from the programme and has already replaced us with persons who were not even captured in the programme.
    ‘’From all indications, our ordeal is not unconnected with our refusal to support his preferred governorship candidate in the last election in Ondo State, Mr Eyitayo Jegede (SAN).
    ”Since the election, Ajube has threatened to deal with all those who worked for the APC candidate and now Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu.”
    But when contacted, Ajube confirmed the allegation, saying he has given their slots to those who were genuine ex-militants.
    He warned them to stop linking their ordeal with the last governorship election in Ondo State, insisting that they will never benefit from the scheme again because they are not ex-militants.
    He noted that the 25 people involved lied by claiming that they worked for the APC during the last governorship election because they were loyalists of Chief Olusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
    He said: “I have been sincere to my people on this issue of Amnesty and that is why I always directed the Amnesty office to pay directly into the boys’ accounts unlike my colleagues, who would ask the office to pay into their accounts and later share the money to their boys.
    “We will ensure that only those genuine ex-militants will continue to benefit from the scheme.”

  • Pensioners protest non-payment of 36 months arrears

    Pensioners protest non-payment of 36 months arrears

    Former local government workers and teachers under the platform of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners yesterday staged a protest within the premises of the Ikeja Magistrate Court to protest non-pension in the last 36 months.

    The angry protesters blocked the entrance of the Local Government Service Commission and Teaching Service Commission which shared same premises with the magistrate courts and prevented workers from entering their offices.

    They disrupted sittings of the courts for several hours as they chant different solidarity songs.

    The pensioners demanded that the Director of the Commission, Babatunde Rotinwa should pay them their pension arrears and gratuity which they claimed had been disbursed to the commission by the Lagos State Government.

    One of the pensioners who identified himself as Mr. A.A Afolabi claimed that the commission had been delaying their payments, for reasons best known to them.

    “We are here today to demand for what rightfully belongs to us. We have done various verification exercises and yet all we hear is one story or the other.

    “We have toiled for the state in our prime and now that we are retired, we are being denied what is due to us.

    “We are asking the commission to pay us the 142 per cent balance of 36 months.

    Rotinwa specifically told us last Friday that the government has released the money to the commission. We will not leave here today until we get an answer. We will even take our protest to the Secretariat in Alausa if our voices are not heard,” he said.

    Another pensioner, a woman, who declined to give her name, claimed that she came to protest in spite of being ill and on medication.

    “These people doing this to us should remember that they would also retire someday and have to beg to be paid their entitlements,” she lamented, adding that some of her colleagues have died while waiting to get their entitlements.

    An 82-year-old man, Mr Jacob Adeyemi   described the action of the commission as a deliberate punishment on the pensioners.

    “It is very unfortunate to have this type of people in our midst. If you are not a dynamic leader, then you are not a good leader,” he said.

    However, a staff of the Commission who declined to give his name because he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the commission tried to pacify the pensioners.

    “We have heard your complaints and I can assure you that we are doing everything possible to rectify it.

    “Though the money has been approved but you need to realise that the process takes time. It is not about the money being approved by the government, you must realise that there are still many issues that need to be resolved,” he said.

  • NLC to Mimiko, Fayose: non-payment of workers’ salaries a crime

    The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) at the weekend told governors of Ondo and Ekiti states that non-payment of salaries to workers is a crime.

    In separate letters to Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko and his Ekiti State counterpart, Ayodele Fayose, NLC President Ayuba Wabba said though the congress was aware of the economic challenges facing the country, it was not an excuse to owe workers and pensioners.

    Wabba, in his letter to Mimiko, said: “We are not unaware of the present socio-economic challenges in the country.  However, in our estimation, this should not be an acceptable reason for not paying five months salaries and pensions at the level of the state, and four months salaries and pensions at the level of local government and teachers.

    “Sir, you do not need a lecture from anyone to know that non-payment of salaries and pensions for months on end, constitutes a crime against the workers, pensioners and their families, whose lives and obligation to man and God and their sense of self-worth have been put in jeopardy.

    “As one with activist background and one with whom we have had collaboration, these issues are clear and self-evident, and therefore need no belabouring.

    “Your excellency, in these difficult moments in our nation, we no doubt have limited choices, but choices, all the same.  One of these choices is to take a critical look at government expenditure, especially in the areas of political appointments, patronage and allied costs.

    “We similarly call for the renewed drive in the internally-generated revenue.  We have reason to believe that when these initiatives are complimented by the bail-out funds released by the Federal Government, the twin issues of salaries and pensions will not be such a burden.

    “As we noted in our letter to you on the 40th anniversary celebration of Ondo State, you have left a legacy.  We urge you to do all that is necessary to sustain this legacy.  Accordingly, we will not relent in urging you to put in motion the necessary logistics for the commencement of the payment of these salaries and pensions”.

    Wabba also asked Fayose to take steps to bring the strike to an end.

    He said the congress was ready to act as a mediator between the striking workers and the state government to find a solution to the dispute.

    “The issues that led to this strike action are well-known to you and include the non-payment of five months’ salary arrears and pensions; non-implementation of promotion report since 2014; issues around staff verification exercise in 2015; and refusal of government to disclose the actual monthly IGR.

    “We are not unconcerned about the prevailing socio-economic challenges in the polity.  In our view, however, this does not constitute an acceptable rationale for owing workers and pensioners for so long.  A labourer, the Holy Books, tell us, deserves his wages.  Stripped of his wages, he is reduced to a slave without rights or privileges.

    “In the instant case, the workers and pensioners in the state have been pulverised into submission due to the default in the payment of their salaries and pensions to the extent that they are unable to perform their obligations to God, man and the state.

    “We believe this painful situation could be minimised, if not entirely reduced, if government gives consideration to managing the cost of governance, raising the IGR profile and appropriately applying the bail-out funds given by the Federal Government.

    “We urge you to bring this strike action speedily to an end by commencing the process of payment and establishing a platform for dialogue at which the leadership of the workers at the state level could be availed of what accrues to the coffers of the state monthly.

  • Ondo retirees berate Mimiko for non-payment of salaries, pensions

    Ondo retirees berate Mimiko for non-payment of salaries, pensions

    Labour retirees in Ondo State have berated Governor Olusegun Mimiko for his “refusal to pay salaries and pensions”.

    The Labour Veterans, led by former Labour Union leader, Pastor Oyekan Arije, said this when they visited the All Progressives Congress (APC) State Chairman, Isaac Kekemeke.

    The senior citizens were at Kekemeke’s office to show support for the APC in the forthcoming governorship election.

    Arije was former Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Mimiko on Due Process.

    The retirees told the APC Chairman that “never before in the state’s history has public workers gone this long without being paid let alone celebrate the Yuletide bleakfully”.

    They decried their members’ sufferings, saying they helped Mimiko to win in 2009.

    According to the labour leaders, Mimiko is the first governor that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) would endorse and support.

    They, however, declared that since the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has ruined the state, they have decided to work with the APC by ensuring that the party wins.

    Kekemeke thanked the retirees for their visit and praised their doggedness in their struggle to continue to fight Labour’s cause even after retirement.

    He praised their boldness for supporting the APC and enjoined them to continue to bear the present suffering the PDP-led government has brought on citizens, until “the APC government will come to change our stories for good next year”.

  • Nig students stranded in Cuba due to non-payment of allowances

    Nigerian students in Cuba under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) programme of the Federal Scholarship Board are stranded, it was learnt.

    In the last eleven months, it was learnt that they have not received thier stipends from the Federal Scholarship Board (FSB), Abuja.

    The BEA scheme is a joint program run by the Nigerian government (through the Federal Ministry of Education) in collaboration with governments of other countries such as Cuba, China,Russia, Morocco, Algeria, Ukraine, etc. Under the scheme, outstanding students from all the states of the federation are nominated by the Nigerian government to the foreign governments.

    In a statement made available to our reporter and signed by the Nigerian student president in Cuba, Evelyn Balogun –Arogunjo, students under the scheme were yet to receive a cent from the government.

    ”Not a kobo or a single cent. We have not received a single cent in the last eleven months from the government that sent us abroad, how are we expected to survive?

    “Since January we have been going through hell and especially for graduates of this year who have been asked to vacate the school premises with the obligation to rent houses to live in and accommodation is extremely expensive.

    “Due to Cuba economic restrictions, we do not have the right or permission to work nor receive money from outside for those who have the opportunity compared to other Nigerian students on scholarship in other countries; we only depend on stipends promised by the federal scholarship board.

    The statement explained that, “Nigerian students on scholarship in other countries have all been paid except for us in Cuba and this is always the case”.

    According to the statement, “the graduates always receive stipends of eight months in their final year which is from January to August due to the fact that we are expected to be out of the country of residence by the end of August but now we are currently four months passed the expected date of departure, we are now in the obligation to pay rents monthly till when all allowances are sent.

    “The statement lamented that, “students were promised flight ticket fees back home after their 3rd year of career during the period of vacation which never arrived.

    “It is impossible to pay for our accommodation for the last four months from the allowance supposedly being sent due to the fact that the last four months was never budgeted in our stipends for this years”.

    “We the students with the assistance of the Nigerian Embassy here in Havana Cuba have done everything possible to communicate with the present Executive Director of the Federal Scholarship Board Mrs Ifeoma Agunwah through letters, calls, social media etc, but no concern has been shown about our present situation”.

    “Also with the expiration of our identification cards, our cost of living has quadrupled due to the fact that our status automatically changes to tourist one”, the state added.

     

  • NUP decries non-payment of April pension

    The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has decried the non-payment of April pension by the Federal Government to its members across the country.

    It said this had brought hardship to the pensioners, many of whom are old and are dependent on the monthly stipends for survival.

    In a statement signed, its National President, Dr. A. O. Afolayan and General Secretary, Elder Actor Zal in Abuja, appealed to the  outgoing Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, to release funds for the payment of the pension delay, the government grows.

  • Ekiti civil servants lament non-payment of April salary

    Ekiti civil servants lament non-payment of April salary

    EKITI state workers yesterday wore gloomy faces as they gathered at the State Secretariat in Ado-Ekiti, lamenting the non-payment of last month’s salary.

    The workers, who expected their salary on April 27, had their hopes dashed.

    Workers at many government offices became sad yesterday on learning they would have to wait a little longer for their salary.

    The situation was aggravated by the expiration of a six-month moratorium secured from commercial banks by Governor Ayo Fayose.

    Its expiration means that the governor can no longer raise loans from banks to pay workers.

    Yesterday, workers were discussing in hushed tones.

    A source claimed that a pay cut is being considered by government to find a way out of the problem.

    The source said: “One of the options being weighed by the government is reduction of salary  because government is not willing to retrench them.

    “A pay cut of about 20 or 30 per cent is being considered but nothing has been finalised. I think a pay cut is better than retrenching or downsizing.”

    A worker said: “We are now in trouble over non-payment of our salary because we don’t know how we are going to survive. The salary delay may not be the fault of the governor but we are in a dire situation.

    “Many of us have incurred debts that our salary may not be enough to offset. Some of us find it difficult to pay our children’s school fees but we pray that one way or the other, the government finds a solution.”

    Another civil servant said: “These are hard times for us and surviving has been difficult. No salary, the outstanding September salary is there, no leave bonus.

    “It will get to a level that some of us won’t come to office because of lack of fare and food I obtained on credit will soon finish. It is unfortunate.”

    The effect of the non-payment of salary is affecting sales. Market women and shop owners are complaining of low sales, which they attributed to the economic situation.

    Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development Toyin Ojo allayed workers’ fear, saying they would not be denied their benefits.

    He said government was discusing with labour unions to find a way of managing the situation.

    Ojo said: “We are laying our cards on the table. We want our stakeholders to give us suggestions. It is after we have agreed on modalities that we will start paying.

    “We are discussing with labour leaders, because it is a matter of concern to Governor Fayose, who had vowed not to owe workers .

    “It is our wish to pay them as and when due and that was why we are seeking suggestions from them. As we are doing this, we were showing them evidence of what we have been getting from the Federation Account and how we have been spending it.”

  • TUC decries non-payment of federal workers

    •Urges reduction of fuel prices

    Trade Union Congress (TUC), has  condemned the delay by the Federal Government  in paying thousands of civil servants their salary for over two months now, saying the act is a threat to industrial peace.

    The union made the condemnation in a communiqué issued at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Lagos. It  frowned at non-payment of salaries to thousands of civil servants since October this year without any justifiable reason.

    Jointly endorsed by TUC President, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama and its Secretary General, Comrade Musa Lawal, he said the same problem happened late last year when many public servants celebrated Christmas with empty stomach as a result of refusal of government to pay them their salary.

    It urged the Federal Government to immediately settle all arrears of salaries owed affected workmen in the interest of industrial peace.

    However, spokesman of the Head of Service of the Federation, Haruna Rasheed Imrana told journalists that  it was absolutely not true to say that thousands of civil servants have not been paid their salaries.

    Imrana said: “You better find out which ministry or ministries.  It is possible to have one or two government agencies facing a little delay but it is definitely not a civil service thing. “It is not in the mainstream civil service.To say thousands, you better get the facts right because  there would have been a riot.”

    The communiqué also expressed dismay that the prices of refined petroleum products have remained unchanged despite the significant fall of crude oil prices which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has acknowledged as a being steady.

    It called on the government to immediately adjust the pump price of petroleum products which to ameliorate its impact on their purchasing power occasioned by the devaluation of the naira.

    It condemned the prsecution of employees in the private sector through the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) to scrap or abolish Gratuity Benefits from the existing retirement benefits in the country and also called for the re-emplacement of gratuity in the public sector.

    It said it will fight with all legitimate means at its disposal to ensure the emplacement and the continued existence of the gratuity scheme in Nigeria’s industrial relations system.