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Tag: salaries

  • Aregbesola inaugurates panel on IGR, salaries

    Aregbesola inaugurates panel on IGR, salaries

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has inaugurated a 17-man committee to oversee government revenue and its application to the payment of workers’ salary arrears.

    Speaking at the weekend inauguration of the committee, headed by former Secretary-General of the Organisation of the African Trade Unions (OATU), Hassan Sunmonu , the governor reiterated his administration’s commitment to workers’ welfare.

    The committee is made up of government officials and labour leaders, including Chief of Staff to the governor   Gboyega Oyetola, former Commissioner for Information and Strategy Sunday Akere, Chairman of the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Jacob Adekomi.

    Others are Bayo Jimoh, Bola Oyebamiji, Bayo Adejumo, Rufus Adeyemi, Comrade Wakil Amuda, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Idowu, Gbenga Oyebode, Akeem Ibrahim and Y. A. Afolabi.

    Aregbesola said the committee was inaugurated to ensure that the apportionment of net revenue accruing from federation accounts and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to government coffers is sufficient for payment of workers’ salaries, pensions and other critical expenditures.

    The governor, in his speech, titled: “We Are in Extra-Ordinary Time”, noted that the state of the nation was not ordinary.

    Aregbesola, who noted that Osun was the first to alert the public of the impending financial crisis, said no government has ever attempted the inauguration of such committee in the country.

    He added that Osun was also the first state to form a committee to assess and evaluate the accrued revenue from all sources.

    The governor said the government and its workers agreed on how to spend the fund.

    He said: “As we are all aware, the financial tsunami that entered global lexical in 2008 and swept throughout the federation, beginning from July 2013.

    “This, however, crippled the finances of the states and Federal Government, though some people did not believe this, as the traducers attributed our economic crisis in the state to financial recklessness.

    “This scenario of financial crisis made the payment of workers’ salaries difficult, but what some people do not realise was that the financial crisis which ravaged the country led the former minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to announce that the Federal Government  borrowed N476 billion to pay workers.”

    The governor decried the report that the state collected and fixed the bailout funds to accumulate interest.

    “Our traducers announced two weeks before the CBN publicly announced the release of the bailout funds to the state that we have collected and fixed the loan.

    “Well, we thank God that our political enemies did not succeed because our people are wise enough to justify all the circumstances and arrive at the truth,” he said.

    Sumonu pledged to do the work assigned to the committee without any rancour.

    He promised that the welfare of the people would be prioritised and urged  workers to remain focused.

  • Ondo to pay salaries on October 7

    Ondo to pay salaries on October 7

    ONDO State workers yesterday suspended their two-day warning strike.

     This followed an agreement with the government that all outstanding salary arrears would be paid by Wednesday.

    The workers started their two-day warning strike on Wednesday before it was called off yesterday evening.

    Speaking with reporters after a four-hour meeting, the Joint Negotiation Council (JNC) Chairman, Sunday Adeleye, said three days ago, labour leaders met with government representatives to discuss after which they gave an ultimatum to the government to pay salaries.

    He noted that there were  intervention from various quarters, especially from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), JNC and Trade Union Congress(TUC) headquarters, Abuja, begging the union to dialogue with the government.

    Adeleye said a meeting was held with the Head of Service (HoS) and government officials, where the workers agreed to end the strike.

    He said: “Our agreements are as follow- the names of workers recruited by the government in the local government service commission which were removed should be immediately restored.

    “All salaries arrears should be paid in full to all workers latest by Wednesday, October 7.

    “The government should resolve the issue of loan being charged by banks on workers salaries.

    “Our members must not be intimidated and based on the intervention from the state and at the national level,  organised labour is hereby suspending the strike. All workers should resume work today.”

  • Enugu approves N4.2b for salaries

    Enugu approves N4.2b for salaries

    The Enugu State Executive Council has approved the procurement of a bailout fund of N4.2billion through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the liquidation of the outstanding salaries, pensions and arrears including subventions for parastatals, institutions and boards.

    The council equally approved the procurement of N10billion loan from the CBN for infrastructural development.

    The state Commissioner for Information, Dr. Godwin Udeuhele disclosed the development while briefing reporters at the end of the state executive council meeting.

    The approvals, he explained, were sequel to the memoranda from the Commissioner for Finance Mrs. Eucharia Offor requesting the urgent need to liquidate all workers entitlements and consolidate on the state’s ongoing developmental projects.

    According to the commissioner, the council also approved the relocation of motor mechanics and other allied workers in Enugu metropolis to the Mechanic Village, Umuatugbuoma Akegbe Ugwu in Nkanu West Local Government Area, sequel to a memo from the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr. Sam Ogbu-Nwobodo.

    The council had further mandated the State Ministry of Commerce and Industry to open up more mechanic villages at Nsukka urban, Emene, Ninth Mile Corner among others to improve the environmental status of the state’s urban areas as well boost its economic and commercial life.

     

  • salaries: Ondo workers protest

    salaries: Ondo workers protest

    Ondo State workers yesterday in Akure, the state capital, marched on the office of the accountant general at Alagbaka to demand for payment of their three- month salary arrears

    The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions, such as “Ondo Government, where is our bailout money?”; “Accountant General must go”; “N14:68bn bailout fund fixed by Mimiko”; “Hardship is getting worse”, among others.

    The protest was led by the state Chairman, Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), Comrade Sunday Adeleye.

    He decried the government’s failure to pay their salaries, despite receiving bailout fund from the Federal Government.

    Adeleye gave the government 24 hours to pay all outstanding salaries and deductions.

    He called for the removal of the accountant general for allegedly refusing to pay their outstanding salaries.

    Addressing the protesters, Head of Service Toyin Akinkuotu assured that the workers would receive their salaries soon.

    Akinkuotu said all outstanding salaries would be paid, adding that the government would also pay their two months deductions of May and June.

    According to him, government is fully committed to the payment of workers salaries and their welfare packages but must ensure that only genuine workers are paid.

    Akinkuotu attributed the delay in payment to the anomalies discovered during the just concluded verification in the civil service.

    He said the exercise was almost completed.

     

  • Dickson lambasts ex-aide over unpaid salaries complaint

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson yesterday denied owing his former Senior Special Assistant on Non-Indigenes, Chief Chinedu Mbah, one-year salary arrears and allowances.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Treasury and Accounts, Mr Timipre Seipulou, the governor said Mbah was ungrateful, urging the public to ignore him.

    Mbah recently resigned his appointment, citing, among other things, non-payment of salaries and allowances; daily intimidation and harassment from the Office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and confiscation of his official car.

    But Seipolou described the claims as false, malicious and meant to impugn on the reputation of the Dickson-led Restoration Government.

    According to him, the government has always lived up to its financial obligations to workers and was “not owing any of his aides, including Mbah”.

    The statement said: “Available financial records reveal that Mbah was paid his remunerations to date, just like any other political appointee in the state, before his purported claim of resignation.

    “Mbah is only acting the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and particularly for his master and former Chief of Staff to Governor Dickson and now an APC governorship aspirant …who recommended him for appointment. Going by the facts on ground, it is clear that it is only a desperate and ungrateful man that can make such malicious claims.”

    Seipolou said the claims were politically motivated, adding that it was a deliberate attempt to smear the government’s image.

    The governor’s aide said the Dickson administration was not perturbed by Mbah’s resignation.

    According to him, the former aide has defected to the APC with his master and benefactor.

    Seipolou said: “Ordinarily, I would not have reacted to the spurious and false claims made by Mbah. But to put the records straight and save the unsuspecting public from being misinformed, I want to unequivocally state here that the Bayelsa State Government is not owing its workers and appointees.

    “It is public knowledge that this is one of the few states in Nigeria that have not failed in meeting their financial obligations, especially in terms of payment of salaries. Mr Mbah is only acting true to type. He is doing the bidding of his master and the opposition party, which his master now belongs to.

    “But I can assure you that our government is not losing sleep over his purported ‘resignation’ because he was more of a liability to our government, seeing that his exit was widely celebrated by majority of the non-indigenes. My advice is that people should learn how to play politics and not pay good with evil because of their inordinate political ambitions.”

     

  • Dickson’s aide resigns over non-payment of salaries

    The Senior Special Assistant to Bayelsa State on Non-Indigenes, Chief Chinedu Mba, has resigned from Seriake Dickson’s State Executive Council (Exco) over alleged non-payment of his salaries and allowances for over a year.

    His resignation was said to have caused panic at the Government House, following fears that the action could negatively affect non-indigenes’ support for the governor’s re-election bid.

    Mba, who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Association of Non-Indigenes in Bayelsa State (ANBS), played a key role in the governor’s electoral victory in 2012.

    The former aide led hundreds of non-indigenes on a road march for Dickson and convinced them to vote for the governor.

    In his letter of resignation, obtained our reporter in Yrnagoa, the state capital, Mba said he was intimidated, oppressed and unfairly treated in the over three years he served the governor.

    The former aide said his travails were masterminded by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Edmund Allison-Oguru, who he said always levelled unfounded allegations against him.

     

  • Osun to pay salaries with bailout cash

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Ayuba Wabba have  said the government will use the N34.98 billion bailout loan to pay outstanding workers’ salaries.

    Wabba spoke to reporters in Osogbo after a meeting with the governor on the crisis brewing between the workers and the government.

    Wabba said: “We agreed that the bailout will be deployed to pay outstanding salaries and pensions.

    “It was agreed that the salaries will be paid in the next few days.”

    A statement by the governor’s media director, Semiu Okanlawon, said: “We are using the opportunity to assure workers that all arrears will be paid from the bailout funds .

    “This is why the government has ensured that the verification is concluded and the actual figure of workers is determined.

    “It is therefore important for workers to ensure effective conclusion of this process to ensure that they reap the fruits of their labour.

    “We must agree that civil service reforms are absolutely critical at this stage.

    “There is a need for the engagement of all critical segments of leadership of government and labour for the necessary actions that will make the workforce effective and efficient.

    “If our state, and by all means, the Southwest, will become financially and materially viable, a wholesome review of what works and what does not must be carried out and implemented.”

    Students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife,  protested in Osogbo, asking  the Federal Government to reduce school fees and for the state to pay workers.

    Led by the Student Union President Omotayo Akande, the students said despite the increased fees, facilities were in a deplorable condition.

     

  • Midwives, highway sweepers protest non-payment of salaries

    Midwives, highway sweepers protest non-payment of salaries

    Scores of highway sweepers and midwives in Lagos State yesterday stormed the House of Assembly to protest the alleged non-payment of salary arrears.

    The protesters, in separate groups, lamented that life has been unbearable.

    The midwives claimed they were being owed more than a year’s salary; the sweepers alleged that they were owed between three and five months wages.

    A highway sweeper, Yemisi Oresanwo, said life had been difficult for her and her family since their transfer from Ministry of the Environment (MoE) to Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA).

    According to her, there are seven zones handling sweeping of highways in the state and each zone is owing salaries.

    It was gathered that the sweepers earn N12,000 monthly; their supervisors collect N20,000.

    They said they had complained to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment, who promised to look into their demands.

    Oresanwo, a supervisor from Ikeja zone, said it had been difficult for them to survive, pointing out that they had complained to their bosses but nothing has been done.

    “Like for me as a supervisor, I’m being owed five months salaries. Others are being owed three or four months. So we want government to come to our aid.

    “Since the time we were transferred from MoE to LAWMA, the latter has been responsible for payment of our salaries until recently when they refused to pay us,” she said.

    Oresanwo added: “LAWMA has been paying their own workers but has neglected us”.

    The protesters said LAWMA management claimed that the said Ministry of the Environment is owing them; hence they cannot fulfil their obligation to the sweepers.

    Also speaking, Abidemi Najeem said they have been enduring the situation but could no longer do so as their children are expected to resume school soon.

    Najeem, who is representing Jibowu-Fadeyi zone, said they had been transferred since 2013 to LAWMA, adding: “We want the government to state categorically whether we are under LAWMA or MoE.”

    Najeem said: “Our children will soon resume school and we are expecting Ileya festival, how do they expect us to take care of ourselves and family members.”

    Speaking on behalf of Midwives Service Scheme (MSS), Beatrice Ajayi explained that they belong to an umbrella body for midwives in Nigeria.

    She said the Federal Government deployed them in Lagos State, adding that the former has been fulfilling its obligation, while the latter has done nothing.

    “This is not the first time we have protested, when we protested last year, they paid 2014 arrears but left 2013 unpaid. We find it difficult to go to work as we can’t afford the transport fares.

    “They have been promising us but we are tired of waiting. We borrow money to go to work,” she said.

    A lawmaker, Bisi Yusuff, who addressed the groups on behalf of Speaker Mudashiru Obasa appealed to them to remain calm.

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, he said, does not owe salaries, promising that the matter would be addressed.

    Yusuff said the House would look into the matter when it resumes.

     

  • Salaries: NUJ vows to disrupt Thisday’s anniversary celebration

    Salaries: NUJ vows to disrupt Thisday’s anniversary celebration

    The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has threatened to disrupt the 20th anniversary celebration of Thisday Newspapers if the management failed to pay the outstanding salaries of the organisation’s journalists.

    A statement by the National President of NUJ, Waheed Odusile, on Friday in Lagos said that the publisher of Thisday, Mr Nduka Obaigbena had been notified.

    It said that if the management failed to effect the payment by 2 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4, the union would disrupt the organisation’s 20th anniversary celebration.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the anniversary celebration is scheduled to hold on Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The statement said that the letter sent to Obaigbenna on Wednesday, noted that the action would take place with the full backing of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress.

    It said it was particularly pained that Obaigbena had reneged on his promise after assuring the NUJ leadership of the payment.

    “There is no going back on the disruption of the company’s 20th anniversary celebration except the flamboyant publisher pays his workers by 2 p.m. on Friday,’’ it added.

  • ‘Don’t allow local govts pay teachers’ salaries’

    ‘Don’t allow local govts pay teachers’ salaries’

    The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) has reiterated its calls on the Federal Government not to allow local governments to be in-charge of paying primary school teachers’ salaries.

    The union said the call became necessary  due to its fears and  concerns over the capability of local government councils and their leaders to pay salaries of primary school teachers, given the history of the councils’  inability  to carry out this responsibility in the past.

    National President of the NUT, Comrade Alogba Olukoya said this at a press conference in Abuja.

    According to him,  the NUT views the stance of Mr. President to strengthen the local government system as a step in the right direction, believing that such an effort will give the needed impetus to the third tier of government to carry out its statutory responsibilities for the overall benefit of the people.

    “However, we wish to use this opportunity to draw the attention of President Buhari to our age -long fears and concerns about the capability of local government councils and the political will of their leaders to pay salaries of primary school teachers in the country given the history of total failure of the councils to carry out this responsibility in the past. We recall with nostalgia the horrifying experience of primary school teachers between 1990 and 1994 when primary school education was under the control of the local government,” he said.