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Tag: salary

  • Oyo workers vow to resist salary cut

    Oyo workers vow to resist salary cut

    •NLC denies agreement with govt

    Members of the organised labour movement in Oyo State, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), have opposed any move by Governor Abiola Ajimobi to cut workers’ salary.

    They vowed to use available means to resist this.

    Governor Ajimobi yesterday told the people in a programme on Splash FM that the labour leaders agreed with the government that workers’ salary should be cut, following the state’s dwindling resources, at a meeting last Monday.

    NLC Chairman Mr. Waheed Olojede described the claim as false.

    Olojede, who expressed surprise at the claim, said there was never any such meeting with the governor where salary cut was discussed.

    Warning the government to desist from any step that would cause disaffection between it and the workers, the NLC chairman wondered how the labour would enter into an agreement with the governor on salary cut at a time the NLC was agitating for salary review.

    His words: “Today, the Oyo State governor featured in a radio programme and informed the public that he held a meeting with labour leaders and that we agreed on salary cut because of the present economic situation and the state’s dwindling resources.

    “The message got to us as a very big surprise because at no time did labour hold a meeting to negotiate with the government on workers’ salary cut.

    “It is true we held a meeting with the government last Monday, but it was convened to discuss the bailout loan, which the Federal Government has released to Oyo State.”

    The NLC boss said the agenda of the meeting, which was attended by the governor, the head of service and other officials, was based on the Federal Government bailout to states and how soon the arrears of workers’ salary would be paid.

    He said: “We went to the government to know how much was it and how it will be spent to clear the arrears of salary. At that meeting, the government told labour that soon, they would access the funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and as soon as the fund came, they were prepared to spend the money for the purpose for which it was meant. That is the clearance of allowances, salary and pension arrears.

    “We also agreed at that meeting that since the federal allocation committee held a meeting in Abuja and released allocation to the states, payment of April salary of officers on GL 13 and above should begin immediately, while we await the bailout fund to clear May, June, July and August salary. That was the position at that meeting.

    “It was a big surprise today (yesterday) when the governor said he had discussed with us and we agreed that he should cut workers’ salary. We say no to this and that there is no agreement between us and the governor that workers’ salary should be cut. This is also to inform employers of labour that the last NEC meeting of labour held on August 6 resolved that the law that guides minimum wage allows it to be reviewed after five years of implementation.

    “The minimum wage was approved in 2011. The national headquarters of the NLC is preparing to call for a review of the wage. So if the NLC is agitating for an increase of workers’ salary, why should any government talk of salary cut? To us as labour in the state, this proposal is not acceptable. It is anti-labour, anti-social and unacceptable.”

  • I have not received salary as governor – Lalong

    I have not received salary as governor – Lalong

    Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau says he has not received salary as the governor since he assumed office on May 29.

    Lalong made this known on Sunday in a media parley with journalists in the state.

    The governor explained that he decided not take any salary because his focus was to first settle the backlog of salaries owed civil servants incurred before he assumed the leadership of the state.

    “We want to take care of the salaries of civil servants first before we look at ourselves.

    “We are yet to constitute the cabinet because we inherited a very huge debt, as soon as the debts are reduced we will constitute the cabinet,’’ he explained.

    He explained that the delay in the constitution of the cabinet was deliberate and mostly to save cost.

    Meanwhile, Lalong had appealed journalists to be fair in their reportage as some of the reports that go to the press are not true reflection of the situation.

    According to the governor, the recent reports that state government was not doing anything regarding the security situation bedevilling the state was untrue.

    “What we read in the papers is not the true reflection of the situation, because security is our number one priority, the state government in collaboration with Operation Safe Heaven has gone very far.

    “We have already put in a lot and we are not relenting. Let us be patient, we will do our best to protect the lives of the people of Plateau as that is the essence of government anywhere in the world,’’ he said.

    The governor explained that after series of consultations with the Fulani and Berom elders they have decided to set up a 14-man peace committee.

    “The committee witnessed a setback after as soon as it was constituted because of series of attacks that rocked the area but they have resumed.

    “We learnt that they have made some progress and have taken some far reaching decisions which we believe would help in ending the crises,’’ he added.

    Lalong, however, appreciated the journalists for their contribution to the sustenance of peace in the state.

    He said that elections in the state wouldn’t have been peaceful if the reports of the journalists in the state were meant for peace.

    Mr Yakubu Taddy, Chairman, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Plateau Council, commended the government for the parley, descriding the media interaction was a good forum for accountability.

    Taddy, who called for a quarterly interaction between journalists and the governor, said that such forum would do away rumours that make the rounds.

  • NUJ urges FG to enhance media salary in Nigeria

    NUJ urges FG to enhance media salary in Nigeria

    The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Friday urged the Federal Government to enhance media salary because “journalism deserves better care like other professions”.

    The union’s National President, Mr Waheed Odusile, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa that improving on media wellbeing would go a long way in enhancing performance.

    Odusile decried the way graduates working in the government owned media were being treated, describing the media as strong body in nation building.

    “What we want from the government is a kind of enhancing the salary of journalists; let it start first with our members and colleagues in government media because the bulk of members are government employees.

    “We do not like the way our members are being treated like other civil servants in the country; you and I know that journalist works round the clock; let the salary and other benefits go in line with the nature of the job we do.

    “Let the benefits reflect the work we are doing; if other professions are recognised, journalism should also be recognised in this country.

    “Well, once we achieve better pay for journalist in the government media, we will move on to negotiate with the private media owners because we are doing a lot for national development.

    “In this process, we are not going to relent on negotiating with the government to achieve our goals.

    “On the issue of fake journalists, I think, we need law that can wipe them out; we want every fake journalist arrested to be punished according to the law.

    “There should also be a law protecting journalism in this country; journalism as profession should be reorganised and protected,” he said.

    NAN recalls that the 11th All Nigerian Editors Conference (ANEC) is on-going in Yenagoa.

  • Abia lawmaker calls for salary increase

    The lawmaker representing Arochukwu-Ohafia in Abia State in the National Assembly, Uko Nkole, has said it is unfair for anyone to agitate for a pay cut for federal legislators.

    He said those calling for the reduction of their salary and emoluments were not aware of the work of the lawmakers.

    Nkole said rather than call for a salary slash, the people should advocate increased funding of the National Assembly to enable the legislators perform well.

    The lawmaker urged the people to monitor and hold their representatives accountable for funds voted for projects.

    He said the media should seek to know what the President’s security vote was, as well as his other sundry allowances instead of looking into the salary of lawmakers.

  • Kogi pays LG workers 50 per cent salary advance

    Workers in some local government areas of Kogi State during the week got not only their full July salary, but also 50 percent arrears for August.

    The state government in a circular directed full payment of workers’ salary in the 21 local government areas.

    Workers in Lokoja LG for example got additional 50 percent salary arrears for August, which the state Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Abubakar Sadiq Ainoko attributed to “money available to it”.

    The commissioner said in the month of July, the Federation Account Allocation Committee released a supplementary allocation tagged non-oil revenue, to the state.

    Addressing a press conference in Lokoja yesterday, he said the money received from the non-oil revenue allocation made it possible for the council workers to receive their complete salaries.

    “I am happy to inform you that with the allocation, all LGs paid 100 percent of salary in the month of July, while Lokoja LGA went a step further to pay another month arrears of 50 percent”, he said.

    He commended authorities of all the LGAs for complying with the guidelines given to them on payment of salaries.

    He called for understanding from the workers, saying over 80 percent of allocation to LGs is expended on salaries.

    “If the allocation to LG is N500 million today, over 80 percent of it will go to workers’ salary. It is what comes from the federal government that is used by the LGs to service salaries, and there is no way the state will not pay workers”, he said.

    The chairman of the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Comrade Tom Abutu commended the state government for attending to the issue of arrears workers’ salary, saying has acted well.

  • ‘Payment of $2b salary arrears’ll boost consumer confidence’

    The fall in consumer confidence is expected to ease after the Federal Government clears the accumulated $2 billion salary arrears owed to various states’ workers, analysts at Renaissance Capital (RenCap), an investment and research firm, predicted at the weekend.

    In a report titled: “Nigeria Consumer depression likely to be protracted”, RenCap’s Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) Economist Yvonne Mhango said Nigeria’s consumer confidence index fell to -12.4 in June, from -2.4 a year earlier and -10 in the previous quarter.

    Since the series began in October 2011, the only other time the consumer confidence index fell this low was October 2012, when it dropped to -12.7 following the partial removal of the fuel subsidy.

    She said it is expected that consumer confidence will improve moderately within the third quarter of the year, following the proposed clearing of the $2 billion in salary arrears.

    The analyst, however, said in the short term, economic growth is expected to remain weak and monetary policy tight because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is harping on a strong naira.

    “We think consumer confidence will likely remain in a slump. With a still-low 12-month outlook for the oil price, we expect government revenue amongst other things to remain constrained, implying that payments for salaries and fuel subsidies are likely to continue to fall behind. This would be negative for wage growth and economic activity,” Mhango said.

    “We thus expect the consumer confidence index to move sideways in the negative eight-11 range over the next 12 months, implying the consumer depression is likely to be protracted,” she added.

    RenCap said it expects to see monetary policy ease and a material improvement in the oil price that allows government finances to recover before sentiments on the economy will change.

    “As we see economic activity weakening in the short term and monetary policy remaining tight (given the central bank’s fixation on a strong naira), we expect the consumer depression to be protracted,” she said.

    Mhango said in the series’ short history, the last time a positive consumer confidence index was witnessed was in June 2011, when large pre-election wage increases for government workers drove up confidence. Thereafter, began the deterioration in consumer confidence, which led to the index falling into negative territory, where it has since remained.

    “The positive sentiment inspired by big wage increases in early 2011 was snuffed out by a 575-basis point’s hike in the monetary policy rate in 2011 to 12 per cent at year end 2011,’’ she said.

    She insisted that interest rates and government wages have the highest correlations with consumer confidence.

    “We think this is explained by the fact that tight liquidity and high interest rates inhibit access to credit, particularly for those traders and distributors of consumer goods that partly depend on credit to facilitate their businesses. We attribute the government wage correlation with consumer confidence to the fact that they collectively reflect wages of one-third of the 11 million formal workforces,” she said.

  • Salary: Umahi’s no-cash claim is a lie, says APC

    Salary: Umahi’s no-cash claim is a lie, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State has faulted the state government’s claim of paucity of funds as reasons for its inability to pay workers.

    Governor Dave Umahi had at different fora, blamed his administration’s inability to pay two months’ salary arrears on paucity of funds.

    But the APC, in a statement by its Chairman, Nwachukwu Eze, alleged that the state received N4.6 billion as its share of President Muhammadu Buhari’s bailout fund to states.

    His words: “Since its inauguration, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government, which promised to fulfil a “Divine Mandate” to the Ebonyi masses, has shown anything but live up to its bogus mission.

    “First, President Muhamnadu Buhari approved N720 billion bailout fund, exclusively for the payment of back-log of salaries, of which Ebonyi reportedly received N4.6 billion.

    “Our party is also aware that the state received other funds remitted by the APC-led Federal Government, which according to reports, covered funds spent by the last administration on road construction.

    “We find it ridiculous therefore when the same government continues to brain-wash the people with the tonic cocktail that there is no money, even to pay civil servants that had never been owed.

    “The governor should pay workers the 100 per cent minimum wage he promised during his campaign rather than his ridiculous attempt to cut their existing salary table.

    “The APC in Ebonyi State gives him a 48 hour-ultimatum to either pay workers or resign from office.

    “We disapprove of the N6 million annual stipend for the wife of the governor as Chairperson of Women Development Centre (WDC), in addition to other remunerations by the House of Assembly amidst the terrible hunger that is ravaging the state.

    “With the foregoing therefore, it is safe to conclude that the masses have lost confidence in Umahis’s leadership in just less than two months. The people are surprised that the government, which claimed to have excess power, has brought them excess hunger”.

  • Oyo begins salary payment

    Oyo State workers were in a happy mood yesterday as the news on payment of arrears of salaries filtered in.

    The workers were jubilating when our reporter went round the secretariat yesterday.

    Though, they were yet to receive bank alerts, the workers were seen in groups discussing the development.

    Some of the workers said they are happy as the government is ready to pay the arrears.

    “We cannot but express our thankfulness to God for seeing us through all these weeks and months of hardship. And we are glad that eventually the government is now able to pay the arrears. Many of us have been evicted from our houses, many children could not sit for exams due to their parents’ inability to pay school fees. So, you can see why an average worker is happy knowing that the government has started paying our arrears.”

    It was gathered that an agreement was reached between the government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that payment will begin this week.

    Local government workers are owed May and June salaries, other workers are owed April, May and June.

    The NLC State Chairman, Waheed Olojede, said the exercise would begin with the payment of March salary to workers on grade level 13 and above.

    According to him, the payment will not include the local government staff who have collected their March and April salaries.

    He said: “The government and labour talks resume today on other outstanding for April, May and June. Workers are to please be on the alert accordingly.”

  • Workers’ salary: The Ambode example

    It is no longer news that about 24 states of the federation are currently feeling the heavy burden of the economic crisis occasioned by the fall in international oil price, which consequently led to the decrease in revenue allocations to states.

    As it would be expected, in some of the states, workers have embarked on industrial action in order to press home demands for the prompt payment of their wages. The recent parley held between President Muhammadu Buhari and the governors, over the issue of unpaid salaries and allied matters, perhaps, underscores the gravity of the wage crisis currently bedeviling most states in the country. At one time, the Nigeria Governors Forum was agitating for a financial bailout from the federal government as a way out of the imbroglio.It is, however, heartwarming to state that it is not all the states in the federation that are enmeshed in salary crisis. Lagos State, for instance, does not have any issue with regards to the prompt payment of salary. This has always been the trend since 1999 when Asiwaju Bola Tinubu began the process that led to the financial emancipation of Lagos State. The trend continued under the immediate past governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola. However, that trend is now being taken to a new level under the leadership of the current governor, Akin Ambode, who incidentally was one of the brains behind the financial re-engineering that has solidified the economic base of the state as spearheaded by Asiwaju Tinubu.

    First impression, as the saying goes, lasts longer. This undoubtedly summarizes the attitude of Governor Ambode towards the payment of civil servants salaries. It was quite a new and refreshing experience for the civil servants who all got salary alerts from their various banks for the month of June by the 23rd of same month. To the civil servants, it was a joyous thing and a welcome development. But to the governor, it was a way of fulfilling one of his campaign promises that was hinged on the prompt payment of workers’ salaries and creating of a conducive atmosphere for workers in the employment of the state government to thrive in the discharge of their statutory responsibilities.

    In our climes, there is, indeed, no better way to motivate workers than ensuring their wages are paid as at when due. This makes them to avoid distractions that emanate from financial worries. Perhaps, Ambode’s gesture, which is the basic practice in most multinational firms, originates from his firm belief that the workers are the ones that determine the pace of development in the state and as such must not be denied their wages which is, indeed, one of their core entailments. Those that are closer to the governor would readily tell whoever cares to listen that the man values hardwork and would go to any extent to reward those who are committed to the value and principle of hardwork. Hence, prompt payment of salary is just one of his ways of encouraging the Lagos State civil servants to buy into his vision of provision of diligence service to the state and her people.

    Without a doubt, especially with the current trend in the country where workers are being owed months of salaries, Ambode has started on a rather good note. It is expected that other states’ governors would take a cue from him by making prompt payment of staff salaries a priority. This is the only way forward for our dear nation in the face of current economic difficulties. When workers are owed salaries, it portends great danger for our already troubled nation. With the crisis of Boko Haram insurgency in the north, kidnapping, armed robbery, unemployment and other difficult challenges that the country is presently contending with, to add unhappy civil servants to the lots would, no doubt, suffocate the nation. This is why one is canvassing that the federal government intervenes, as much as it could, by assisting some of the troubled states in lessening the burden of unpaid salaries. Any aid in this direction would be a worthwhile one as it would save the nation from chaos, workers’ rebellion and labour unrest. As it has been previously emphasised, with the myriads of problems we are contending with as a nation, labour unrest should be the last item that we should include in the list.

    This is why the Ambode’s model is the best for the country.

    It is, however, not in the area of prompt payment of civil servants’ salaries that Ambode is displaying a strong resolve to make Lagosians happy. He is equally making great efforts to ensure that Lagosians experience free flow of traffic in a mega city that is infamously renowned for its chaotic traffic situation.

    The governor recently set the ball rolling when, in company of the Secretary to the State Government and other top government functionaries, he embarked on an on the spot assessment of traffic gridlock situation across the state. The objective is to have an on-the-spot feel of the traffic situation. This becomes quite imperative in view of the huge economic implications of what the state loses to traffic gridlocks.

    It is the conviction of the governor that the several manpower hours that are daily lost to traffic chaos, if properly reversed, could translate into economic boost for the state. Consequently, during the governor’s visit to Berger Bus Stop, along the ever busy Lagos- Ibadan Expressway, he reiterated his administration’s commitment to providing solutions to the traffic snarls as he approved the construction of a pedestrian Bridge at Berger Bus Stop.

    Also during his visit to traffic points in Apapa and Ajah axis, the governor who despite a heavy gridlock at the area on that day, together with all that accompanied him, walked through Apapa to Tin Can, expressed his displeasure about the torment that commuters and motorists are condemned to on a daily basis, which he said was largely due to the indiscriminate parking of articulated trucks attempting to access the port and tank farms located within the axis. He said: “We’ve all seen that the gridlock in Apapa is multifaceted. We have examined things that relate to activities of trailer drivers and tanker drivers. Apapa belong to the Federal Government and this Tin Can Bridge that has been under construction for about six years has been abandoned. This, however, has given rise to tankers parking indiscriminately on the road. It is totally unacceptable that we would be having tankers parked on our bridges”.

    On the whole, one could safely conclude that Ambode has started his sojourn as the state governor on a good stead. Judged by the direction of his government so far, Lagosians are, no doubt, in for a pleasant experience. The progress and development of Lagos is what the people voted for. This is what he governor promised. This is what he is set out to deliver!

     

    • Olopade writes from Governor’s Office, Alausa, Ikeja.
  • Buhari, Osinbajo opt for 50% salary cut

    Buhari, Osinbajo opt for 50% salary cut

    President Muhammadu Buhari will only receive 50% of the salary paid to his predecessor.
    The President’s decision to take a 50% pay cut according to a statement by the Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), Garba Shehu, was conveyed to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on Friday by the Permanent Secretary of the State House, Mr. Nebolisa Emodi.
    “I write to forward the completed IPPIS registration form of Mr. President and to draw your kind attention to Mr. President’s directive that only 50% of his salary be paid to him,” Mr. Emodi wrote in the letter with reference number PRES/81/SGF/17.
    The current annual remuneration of the President of Nigeria as published by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission is N14,058,820.00.
    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has similarly given up half of his official remuneration.