The Nation Newspaper

Tag: non-payment

  • Retired policeman petitions govt over non-payment of benefits

    Retired policeman petitions govt over non-payment of benefits

    A retired Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Richard Ogundare, has petitioned the Chairman, Police Service Commission (PSC), Mike Okiro, over non-payment of his retirement benefits 10 years after serving the Nigeria Police Force for 35 years.

    Ogundare, who served between 1969 and 1979 in the Nigerian Army before he was seconded to the Nigeria Police, is also aggrieved because the PSC refused to merge his number of service years.

    The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar was copied in the petition written and signed by his lawyers, Kehinde Hassan Bamibola& Co.

    According to the petition, Ogundare has not received his retirement benefits since he retired in 2004.

    The petition stated: “We have the authority, instruction and consent of our client to call your attention to the inhuman treatment he has been receiving from your commission after he has duly served his fatherland, Nigeria meritoriously formerly as a military personnel from 1969 before he got seconded/enlisted to the Nigeria Police Force in 1979.

    “Our client informed us with documentary evidences that, he applied to merge his service years sometimes in 2002 and that the application was not recommended. He would have served for 35 as at December 1, 2004, if the merging application had been granted.

    “However, he served the Nigeria Police meritoriously till April 2007 before he was retired from the service. It is so painful and we consider it an act unleashing unmerited hardship on our client, that ever since his retirement, he has not received his retirement benefits. He has been suffering and languishing in abject poverty as a result of non-payment of his retirement benefits.”

    The petition further read that a letter from PSC dated July, 2006 put Ogundare’s retirement date at April 24, 2004 while another letter dated May 3, 2007 with the heading “Retirement Benefits” put the effective date of his retirement at April 24, 2006 with factual affirmation that he was not indebted to the Federal Government.

    “Going by the letter from PSC, he actually applied for merging of his service years comprising the service years with the Nigerian Army from 1969 to the period he joined the Nigeria Police 1979, but the application was turned down. He was made to serve beyond December 2004 till April 2007. Assuming the merging application was granted, he would have clocked 35 years at the service by December, 2004.

    “He actually served the Nigerian Police Force for 28 years from 1979 to 2007. That, the period between December 2004 and April 2007 should be reasonably computed into his service years for the treatment, calculation and payment of his retirement benefits.

    “We hereby appeal to your good office to pay our client all his retirement benefits as he is in great need of finances for his health and other necessities. The ‘dead does not spend money’ and so he should enjoy what he has laboured for while he is still on earth now. We are looking forward to hearing from you that his Retirement Benefits have been paid fully” it read.

    Efforts to get the PSC’s reaction proved abortive as at press time.

  • Retired soldiers decry non-payment of pension

    Retired paramilitary officers in Imo State have petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan to address the irregular payment of their monthly pensions and gratuity.

    The pensioners also pleaded that the delegates to the national conference intervenes.

    The aggrieved retirees, who spoke with reporters in Owerri, decried the alleged non-payment of their 53.7 per cent increment approved for retired police and paramilitary officers since July 2010. They also complained about the non-harmonisation of their pension as applicable in other sectors.

    Imo State Chairman of the National Association of Retired Paramilitary Officers (NARPO), Mr.Abaa Tsha Jabez, said the irregular payment had adversely affected them.

    Mr.Jabez said many retirees had died while waiting for their money.

    “Our members have been withering as a result of hardship and maltreatment. We need our monthly pension.”

    The NARPO chairman said a wrong structure was used in paying the gratuity and pension of those who retired in 2005 and 2006.

    Calling on the Federal Government to intervene, Jabez said paramilitary salary structure should be used in paying them instead of the outdated structure or unified paramilitary salary structure of 2002.

    The aggrieved officers blamed Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Office (CIPPO) for their woes.

    “CIPPO was functional between 1992 and 1993. The founding pension administrators worked hard and well until Director of Pension S.M.A. Babara disorganised the payment process.”

    He said “we need caring and understanding men and women and not greedy and selfish individuals. For this reason, postings should not be based on senority, but on ability and character.”

     

  • Triathlon winners sad over non-payment of cash prizes

    Winners of different events at the just-ended two-day Lagos Triathlon fiesta have expressed disappointments over the failure of the Lagos State Triathlon Association (LSTA) to immediately pay their cash prizes.

    The contestants told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the end of the competition on Sunday in Lagos that the organisers ought to have paid them their cash prizes immediately.

    NAN reports that the competition, which involved cycling and running, was held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos and Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja.

    NAN also reports that the competition was preceded with a-five-kilometre walk at the University of Lagos on Oct. 1, to acquaint the participants with the rudiments of the competition.

    The contestants told NAN that the organisers of the competition had promised to share N300,000 to the various winners in the six events of the competition. They, however, expressed disappointment that the cash prizes were not presented to the winners at the end of the competition.

    NAN reports that each of the winners in the six events was to receive N50,000. Abraham Ekiye, a gold medallist in the male event, said that after cycling and running for a distance of 55km, he was expected to be paid a cash prize of N50,000 as promised.

    Ekiye, however, said that it would be unfair if they were not given the prizes as promised by the association, stressing that they had expended much energy in finishing the race.

    Eke Goodluck, the gold medallist in the female category, said that the failure of the organisers to settle them immediately after the competition was tantamount to fraud.

    “When you make promises and fail to fulfil them, you create room for people to doubt your ability to successfully manage competitions,’’ Goodluck said.

    Meanwhile, Sikuade Jagun, the chairman of the association, confirmed the sharing of N300,000 among the winners of the six events at the competition.

    Jagun, however, said that logistic challenges prevented them from disbursing the money immediately after the competition, promising that the prizes would be paid when the association has the cash backing.

    “We will make all necessary arrangements to ensure that the athletes get their money. We have their contacts and we will call them when the money is ready,” he said.

    Jagun, however, declined to give a specific date that the winners would be paid.

  • Electricity workers protest non-payment of entitlements

    Members of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) yesterday staged a peaceful protest in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on alleged non-payment of their entitlements by the Federal Government.

    They also accused the federal government of not regularising the services of casual and contract workers of the company before announcing Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s (PHCN)’s privatisation.

    The Federal Government had announced September 30 (yesterday) as the take-over date for PHCN’s private investors.

    The protesting workers claimed they were not against privatisation of the company, but vowed to resist any investor taking over the company until their entitlements were paid.

    They threatened to employ legal means to fight their cause.

    The placard-carrying workers, who locked up the PHCN offices at Challenge and Baboko business units as early as 8am, prevented any of the NUEE member from entering the premises.

    Several unsuspecting PHCN customers, who wanted to pay their electricity bills, could not do so.

    Some of the placards read: “We welcome the investors, but pay our dues”; “No to cheating, pay our entitlement”; “BPE, release letters of un-regularised casual contract workers”; “PHCN workers are no saboteurs, just pay our benefit”; “We support reforms, but pay our benefits now”.

    Addressing reporters, the union’s Vice Chairman and the Secretary, Aderinto Adekunle and Opeyemi Adeyeye, said outstanding claims of the workers had not been paid, over seven years after an agreement on the matter between the union and the Federal Government.

    The NUEE leaders also said hundreds of casual and contract workers had not received their appointment letters, which would facilitate the payment of their benefits.

    They vowed not allow the investors to take over the comany until all the benefits of the workers were paid.

    The protesters also said they would ground activities at the company, if their grievances were not addressed by tomorrow.

    According to them, 50 per cent of the workers have not received their dues, against the claims of the Federal Government.

    The workers, who chanted protest songs, said the equity share of 10 per cent of the total sale of the company had not been paid.

     

    including two per cent for union dues and Pension Fund Administration (PFA). The workers took attendance of the staff who came out for the protest.

     

  • Ondo students protest non-payment of bursaries

    Students from the oil producing areas of Ondo State in tertiary institutions yesterday besieged the State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) office at Oba-ile in Akure to protest the non-payment of their two years bursary areas.

    They held workers in the commission, including the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Mann Alli, hostage for over nine hours.

    The protest, which began at about 8.35am, however, caught the management of the commission unawares as the students stormed the premises, chanting anti- government songs.

    They were led by the National President of the National Association of Ilaje Students (NAIS), Mr. Segun Ekudehinwa and the National President of Ese-Odo Local Government Students Association, Mr. Jide Julius.

    The students locked the commission’s main gate and prevented workers and visitors, including workers of the Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Ray Power that share the same premises with OSOPADEC from moving in and out of their offices.

    The intervention of policemen, led by the Area Commander in Akure, Mr. Edward Ajogun, could not calm the situation as the students remained adamant.

    The students, who came in several buses, demanded the payment of the 2011 and 2012 bursaries.

    Each student, according to NAIS President, Mr. Ekudehinwa, is entitled to N40,000 yearly as statutory benefit from the commission.

    The four tyres of the permanent secretary’s official car were deflated by the students during the protest.

    Commissioner for Environment, Chief Sola Ebiseni, who is from the oil-producing area, was later invited by the management of the commission to pacify the protesters when the situation became tense.

    The commissioner, on his arrival, was subjected to humiliation by the rampaging students, who shut the gate against him.

    They ordered him to present the former chairman of the commission, Mr. Debo Ajimuda, to explain the whereabouts of their money.

    Ekudehinwa later ordered the students to open the gate for the commissioner on the recognition that he was the pioneer president of the association.

    The management of the commission, led by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Mann Alli and Chief Sola Ebiseni, later held a closed-door meeting with the chapter presidents of the association where they reached an agreement on the payment of the bursaries.

    Ebiseni said the Governor Olusegun Mimiko administration would not handle issues that border on students’ welfare with levity, adding that the government has put in place necessary facilities to enhance the education of the students, particularly those from the oil-producing areas.

  • 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.”

  • 50 hotels charged with non-payment of fees

    No fewer than 50 hotels have been taken to court for alleged non-payment of licence fees by the Lagos State government.

    Those charged at the Magistrate’s Court, Igbosere, Lagos include Moorhouse Sofitel Hotel, Chesney Hotel Limited and Chillovelle Hotel Limited.

    The prosecutor, Lagos State Solicitor-General Mr Lawal Pedro (SAN), also on Tuesday, withdrew the charges against Protea Hotel Westwood Limited, Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel Limited and Hotel Bon Voyage Limited.

    These hotels, Pedro said, have complied with the law.

    Also charged was FourPoints by Sheraton, which the prosecutor said proposed an out-of-court settlement.

    Pedro said about 50 hotels had been identified for prosecution, adding that they would be charged in other magisterial districts as their names are compiled.

    The state alleged that the defendants, along with their managing directors and other directors, are “carrying on or keeping” a hotel in the Lagos Magisterial District without a licence.”

    It claimed that in carrying out their businesses, the hotels on or about December 5, last year, refused to comply with the Hotel Licensing Law of Lagos State, Cap H6 (2010).

    The offences contravene Sections 4(1) of the Hotel Licensing Law and are punishable under Sections 21 and 122.

    Magistrate F. O. Aigbokhaevbo issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the Managing Director of Chilloville Hotel following Pedro’s application. She ordered that he should be produced on February 7. Mrs. Aigbokhaevbo also fixed the same day for report of settlement with FourPoints by Sheraton.

    On why the charges were filed, Pedro said: “We are concerned with the arbitrariness of violating laws of the land. The hotel may feel that someone is challenging the law, but in as much as the House of Assembly has passed the law and the governor has signed it, the law has become operative.

    “You cannot stop its operation just because somebody is challenging it in court. The law will continue to operate. It is when the court declares it null and void that it will stop operating.”

    On the case pending in court, Pedro said: “There is a dispute between the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government on who has the right to control and regulate tourism activities. The position of Lagos is that it is the state’s responsibility, because the issue of tourism control is not on the Exclusive List.

    “The only thing the Federal Government has over tourism is to control traffic of tourists through people coming into the country for purposes of tourism. Anybody coming to Nigeria should obtain visa. We believe that is the limit of their power over tourism. Hotel control should be the responsibility of the state. We’re in the Supreme Court to determine that.”

  • Institute’s workers protest non-payment of allowances

    Institute’s workers protest non-payment of allowances

    WORKERS of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T) in Ibadan have protested the non-payment of their allowances.

    The workers were made up of representatives drawn from the institute’s chapters of ASUU, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and Non-Academic Staff Union.

    Other members were drawn from the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutions and Associated Institutions as well as the National Association of Academic Technologists.

    The Chairperson of IAR&T chapter of ASUU, Dr Olufunmilayo Ande, said the workers were protesting against the non-payment of the approved hazard allowance arrears and the refusal of the institute’s management to pay the transfer allowances of those that were recently moved as well as entitlements of those newly appointed.

    Ande said the funds were over N177.5 million.

    “We do not have students here as the bulk of our work is research, but most of those who work here are teaching staff of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, the institute’s administrative supervisory agency.

    “It is very saddening that since 2009, there has been no meaningful research work carried out here, especially since June 11, 2012 when workers here have been on strike.

    “The strike is centred on the non-payment of arrears of our hazard allowances to the tune of N177, 571, 609.50 approved by the council of the university on December 13, 2010,” Ande said.

    She said the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) and OAU had set up separate investigation panels on the issue since September and October 2012.

    The union leader said the reports were, however,still pending.

    But Prof. Bamitale Omole, the Vice Chancellor of OAU said the management was working on the matter and the issues would be addressed soon.

    According to him, the protest is understandable as the institute had been rocked by industrial crisis for some months.

    The vice chancellor, however, said that this had not affected productivity.

    “We are aware of the staff grievances and this was why three separate panels were set up by the supervisory agencies of IAR&T to look into the matter.

    “The panels set up by OAU, ARCN and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development are yet to come out with their findings which is the stage we are in.

    “When these reports are released, another committee would be set up to come out with an integrated white paper report which would be open to all.

    “We will implement whatever the report says but until then we can do nothing.

    “The staff themselves can always testify to my fairness in relating with them,” Omole said.

  • Teachers lament non-payment of Dec. salary in Enugu

    Primary school teachers in Enugu State have appealed to the state government to pay their December 2012 salaries to enable them settle their children’s school fees.

    The teachers accused the government of not giving priority to their welfare to enable them to contribute their quota to the educational advancement of the state.

    One of the teachers, who did not want his name in print, expressed dismay with the government, saying that their families had dry Christmas and New Year celebrations.

    “We celebrated this season almost without food on our table. I could not provide my family with the needed things because I so much relied on my December salary, but to my surprise, we were not paid.

    “I could not even borrow because it was already late and I so much expected this salary to come. It was horrible for my family during the celebrations,” he said.

    Another teacher ,who also preferred anonymity, called on the government to pay the salaries and entitlements to enable them to settle their children’s school fees.

    According to him, schools will resume soon and their children need to resume along with their mates.

    “It is very unfair that one will work and not get paid, especially in this season.

    “We celebrated Christmas and New Year from hand to mouth and now that the celebration is over, the government should endeavour to pay us our money so that we can pay our children’s school fees,” the teacher said.

    A volunteer teacher in a rural community said the government had yet to pay him and his colleagues since their recruitment in 2011.

    When contacted, the Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers in the state, Mr Chumaife Nze, confirmed the non-payment of salaries and entitlements to the members.

    “I contacted the permanent secretary of the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board before Christmas, but he said the salaries and leave allowances have been released but till date, no teacher has received a bank alert on the payment.

    “I do not understand what is happening. Even volunteer teachers have not received any salary since they were recruited in 2011,” Nze said.