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Tag: unpaid salaries

  • Workers demand N1.1b unpaid salaries from Emeka Offor

    Workers demand N1.1b unpaid salaries from Emeka Offor

    •Firm: we had no job to execute

    A law firm, Falana & Falana’s Chambers, has asked chairman of Chrome Group, Sir Emeka Offor, to pay his workers who are owed over N1.1billion.

    In an August 16 letter on behalf of staff of Chrome Group, the firm demanded the immediate payment of all their outstanding salaries.

    It also asked for the remittance of all statutory deductions from their salaries since July 2015.

    The law firm said its clients comprise “all the staff of Chrome Group and others associated with it nationwide” whose salaries and emoluments have not been paid by Offor.

    “Our clients’ brief is that since July 2015 till date, you (Offor) willfully refused to pay their salaries and entitlements, remit their pension deductions and contributions to their pension administrators, and refused to remit the PAYE taxes deducted to the tax authorities.

    “They have also worked for your companies without you providing the mandatory healthcare insurance as required by the National Health Insurance Act till date,” the letter reads.

    According to the letter signed by Samuel Ogala of Falana & Falana’s Chambers, efforts to resolve the issues peacefully have been unsuccessful.

    The firm accused Offor of breaching resolutions reached towards clearing the arrears.

    “Our clients made several representations to your good self to amicably resolve these issues but you have consistently breached all resolutions jointly agreed between you and them to pay their outstanding salaries and remittance of their statutory deductions to the appropriate government agencies.

    “Your actions further contravene all known labour laws and is termed as an unfair labour practice and has put our clients and their families under a degrading  condition as they can no longer pay their bills and earn a decent living even though they work day and night to keep your business afloat.

    “Our clients’ right to their wages having worked for your companies is non-negotiable and as such they are entitled to be paid all outstanding salaries and allowances being owed them in full,” the firm said.

    The workers are demanding that N1,139,806,054.94, being their outstanding salaries and wages between September 2015 and August this year, be paid them forthwith.

    They also asked that all pension deductions and contributions outstanding to them from July 2015 to August 31 amounting to N244,172,464.80 be remitted to the pension fund administrators.

    The workers want Pay as You Earn (PAYE) deducted from staff payroll from July 2015 to August 2017, amounting to N153,775,382.58, to be remitted to the states/Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Internal Revenue Board.

    They further demanded that N579,219,429.58, being their disengagement benefits as at August 3, be paid to their bank accounts.

    “We demand that you take immediate steps within seven days of the receipt of this letter to act on it and meet our clients’ demands.

    “We have their instruction to commence a legal action against you and your companies and also petition you to the various government agencies whose laws you have consistently breached by failing to remit the deducted pension, PAYE and Health Insurance,” the firm wrote.

    Billionaire businessman Offor, a leading Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) financier, is known for his interests in oil and gas, power and construction.

    His company was awarded turnaround maintenance (TAM) contract to fix the refineries.

    In the 1990s, his company got a contract for the 115,000 barrels per day (bpd) Warri Refinery and Petrochemicals Company in Delta State.

    In 2014, the Goodluck Jonathan administration reportedly awarded Chrome Energy the TAM contract for both the old 60,000 bpd Port Harcourt and the 150,000 bpd new Port Harcourt refinery.

    With the refineries not functioning optimally, some have criticised the TAM contracts.

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo accused Offor’s firm of lacking the capacity.

    “What I met were refineries that were not working, refineries that were given to an amateur for repairs, for maintenance, what they call turn around maintenance to the company of Emeka Offor – Chrome Group

    “Where has Emeka Offor maintained refineries before? Where has he? That’s what we met. So, the refineries were not working,” he said.

    Former Petroleum Minister Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, three years ago, she was shocked at the extent of dilapidation of the refineries when she visited them on assumption of office as minister.

    “To get a replacement for the equipment was not possible because they were obsolete. For over 20 years, the equipment were not changed or maintained,” she said.

    Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, while briefing the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) in March last year during fuel scarcity, said the non-performance of the refineries was due to alleged fraud and lack of holistic maintenance.

    “We have also had issues of fraud. It got to a point where I started wondering whether as we repair this, somebody was going there to destroy, so that contracting will be done.

    “Over the last 10 to 15 years, we have not done a serious, conclusive turnaround maintenance of these refineries; they are averagely 30 to 40 years old; the equipment are far dilapidated,” Kachikwu said.

    Like several companies and businessmen who were prominent during the 16 years of PDP in power, Offor and his companies’ fortunes seem to have taken a hit.

    Chrome Group’s Abuja office on 22 Lobito Crescent had been under lock, as admitted by Offor’s lawyer.

    Employees of Offor’s other company, Global Scansystems Limited, who claim not to have been paid for two years, are said to have filed a suit at the National Industrial Court, demanding their payment.

     

    ‘Why we closed office’

     

    Offor’s lawyer, Jeff Njikonye, blamed “the general economic meltdown and recession” as leading to a “halt” in Chrome Group’s businesses and closure of its office.

    In an August 22 reply to Falana & Falana’s Chambers‘ letter, Njikonye described as “bogus” the claim that all the staff of Chrome Group and other companies associated with it were owed.

    “This claim is bogus, presumptuous and is straightaway, repudiated,” the lawyer said.

    He added: “The totality of your claims, allegations, inclusive of monetary claims and allegations of unfair labour practices and failure to make remittances are with respect, gold digging and grossly unsubstantiated. They are unequivocally repudiated.”

    Njikonye, however, said Offor’s companies have had no jobs in recent times as to meet their financial obligations.

    “Sequel to the general economic meltdown and recession, our client’s businesses suffered frustration commencing from March 2015 and grounded to a halt in September 2015.

    “Consequently, out client had no job to execute and closed office starting from September 2015.

    “It is reasonably inferable from the circumstances above that the contracts of employment of staff were consequentially discharged by frustration since office was closed and there was no job going on or tasks performed by staff.

    “If our client’s businesses revive as our client hopes they will, our client will determine whom to re-engage as staff and on what terms and conditions such re-engagement will be,” Offor’s lawyer wrote.

    Despite the financial challenges of Chrome Group and its subsidiaries, including Kastech Engineering Ltd, it was learnt that they were on bid list of major projects of Shell and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    It was also learnt that Offor’s companies have also been included in the bid list of Bonga South West-Aparo field development project, a Shell project involving a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) package.

    Sources said the company pre-qualified for the project worth over $10 billion, as well as for an NNPC gas transmission project worth more than $1 billion.

    Offor’s lawyer told Falana & Falana’s Chambers that the businessman would meet the workers in court should they choose to sue.

    “With this insight, we hope you will guide whoever might have briefed you appropriately and desist from further malicious demands and comments as contained in your letter under reference.

    “Be assured that our client is not perturbed by your threats of legal action and threatened report of our client to government agencies.

    “We have our client’s full instructions to meet your case if you have the luxury of proceeding with your unsubstantiated cause,” Njikonye added.

  • Police deny owing salaries

    Police deny owing salaries

    …Say no personnel protested

     

    The Nigeria Police Monday debunked reports that some personnel protested at Kaduna over unpaid salaries.

    Police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) who stated this, urged reporters to always verify their stories before rushing to press.

    According to Moshood, police personnel across ranks throughout the country had always received their salaries when due, except for a few affected by the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), whose cases were being handled by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

    He said: “It is not correct and misleading that Police Personnel protested anywhere in the country because of non-payment of salary as reported in some media on Monday, October, 9.

    “Few policemen, who went on inquiry to the Mechanized Salary Section (MSS) in Kaduna State Police Command over complaint of Under-payment, Omission of their names on the Salary Payroll as a result of the implementation of the IPPIS handled by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, were immediately attended to and addressed by the Officer in Charge of MSS, Kaduna.

    “They were told their problems have   been taken up by the Force Headquarters with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. And they left for their duty posts. No policeman protested and none went on rampage in Kaduna or anywhere else as reported in the media.”

    Continuing, Moshood said challenges such as underpayment, omission of names on payroll, non-payment and over-payment of some personnel experienced in August and September in eight state commands that have been enrolled on IPPIS, have already been tabled before the Office of the Accountant-General and they were being addressed.

    “The public are hereby enjoined not to panic. They should go about their lawful duties and other responsibilities without fear or apprehension. No policeman protested in Kaduna State or any other state of the country because of non-payment of salary.

    “While the Nigeria Police Force is assuring the media of continuous supports and cooperation, they are implored to always verify facts before publishing in order not to cause panic, tension and misinformation in the minds of the people.

    “The Nigeria Police Force is a disciplined organization and will not allow any situation to degenerate into disturbance of public peace and breakdown of law and order anywhere in the country.”

  • Health Ministry’s guards protest over unpaid salaries

    Health Ministry’s guards protest over unpaid salaries

    Security men attached to the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) at Yaba, Lagos Mainland yesterday protested against the alleged non payment of their salaries for eight months.
    They blocked the entrance of the establishment for over three hours, chanting chanted ‘‘no pay, no work.’’
    The guards, who are mostly legionnaires, prevented workers and visitors from entering the building.
    A protester, Major Olusegun Jagundina (rtd), said they had not paid since August.
    The ministry, he said, promised to pay them but it has not.
    He said: “We wrote to them on February 14 giving two weeks ultimatum for them to pay us. We also had a protest on March 2, and they promised us from Abuja that they will pay our salary on or before March 10. We are surprised that till today, they have not paid us. We called them last week and they said they are meeting. The last thing we heard was that they said ‘no money’.
    “We are swimming in poverty in our homes; we have no money to take care of our families. We are Nigerians and the constitution does not allow government to owe workers salary, they are to pay workers as when due. Monthly salary is not meant to be owed. Our own case is the reverse, this is the eighth month we have not received salary. It is better that we protest so that the authority will know that we are suffering, so that they will listen to us and pay our salary.”
    He added: “We cannot continue to be a staff and be suffering. This is why we locked the gate and prevented all workers from entering the office, so that they can realise what we are suffering. We are doing our job with loyalty, we did not commit any sin nor did we commit any harm, so they must listen to us and pay us,” he said.
    Captain Gabriel Isijola (rtd) said: “From August last year till date, we have not been paid and it is affecting us. We cannot pay our children’s school fees, we cannot pay our landlord and we cannot feed. We have to borrow money which we never pay back. This is the eighth month that we have been suffering in silence. Everything is costly in the market; we have no kobo, so we are begging the FMoH in Abuja to come to our aid and pay us our salaries.”
    According to Lieutenant Napoleon Elure (rtd), they have been suffering while working without pay. He said: “Most of our wives are not happy with us; we have been given quit notices from our homes; it has not being easy for someone to be working for eight months without payment. We old soldiers cannot feed our families; it is bad, what are we old soldiers for?
    He said they had become liars because they have been borrowing, promising to pay without doing so.
    Elure said: “FMoH should please pay our money, we are old soldiers and we work selflessly for the community. They should put themselves in our shoes to see how we are suffering.”

    Lieutenant Simeon Ogwuche accused the ministry of always giving them false hopes, adding that they cannot continue the way things are.
    He said: “We cannot continue with unpaid salaries. As workers receive their salaries, let us also be paid. Nobody can survive without being paid eight months salary in this country. We have lost our respect with our wives and children, since we keep saying we don’t have money. It is like we are liars because we go to work every day. FMoH should stop owing us salaries.”

  • School proprietor in court over ‘unpaid salaries’

    Members of staff of Olugbemi Unique School, Angwan Makama, Masaka in Nasarawa State have dragged their proprietor, Jimmy Lagundaye, to a Masaka Chief Magistrate’s Court over alleged non-payment of three months salaries.

    The complainants – Eze Susan, Kemi Soje, Amina Obor, Ojo Jumoke, Abonyi Amalis, Patience Ogede, Abdurazak Isah, Uver Charles, Amos Ebhohen, James Tor, Noel Blessing and Pauline Opeh – were all present in court.

    They averred that they were on monthly salary at the school and they worked for three months, but the proprietor refused to pay them.

    They said they approached Lugundaye in respect of the issue, but he made several promises to the Education Inspectorate Office, Area 1, Masaka.

    Other bodies, he made promises to pay to were Karu Local Government Area, Social Welfare, Chairman of Karu Local Government and Masaka Police Station, but failed to pay.

    They alleged that the accused said that even if the school ran down, he had nothing to lose as he would turn it to a mini estate.

    The complainants said that all their efforts for the accused to pay them their salaries totaling N579, 000 proved abortive.

    They prayed the court to help them recover their monies.

    The complainants’ counsel, Mr Innocent Maagi, urged the court to use its discretion in the case, stressing that his clients were all family men and women and this was their only source of income.

    The accused, denied the allegation, stressing that they were not telling the truth.

    Magistrate Victor Manga, admonished Lugundaye to pay them their salaries if really he owed them.

    He adjourned the case to March 9 for hearing.

  • Kogi JAC protests unpaid salaries

    Kogi JAC protests unpaid salaries

    The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of higher institutions in Kogi State yesterday shut various campuses to protest the unpaid salaries of members.
    Academic and non-academic activities were paralysed as the committee marched round the town.
    The protest started about 8am at the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja. The workers converged on the main entrance, chanting anti-government songs.
    The placard carrying-workers, who accused the government of misconduct, temporarily blocked the Lokoja-Abuja highway.
    Some placards read: “Stop media payment of salaries and pay real workers on the field”; “Injury to one is injury to all”; “Pay our colleagues their salaries”; “Teachers’ reward is also in this world”.
    The protest followed the ultimatum to government by JAC, for its alleged failure to pay some members who participated in the verification exercise.
    Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) Sunday Boluwomi accused the government of failing to pay the salaries of about 148 workers of the institution.
    He vowed that the committee will embark on a five-day warning strike next Monday if the government failed to meet its demands, adding that at the expiration of the warning strike, an indefinite action would follow.
    His words: “If our members are not paid by next Monday, we will start a five-day warning strike and after that, we will go on an indefinite one. It is the same students we are protecting that are accusing us.
    “Our members have not been paid for eight months and many of them have withdrawn their children from school. We cannot train other people’s children when ours are suffering”.
    According to him, it was wrong for the government to label members that were available every day, ghost workers, after going through screening.

  • Contract workers protest unpaid salaries

    Aggrieved contract workers of the National Library, Minna, Niger State, have shut the Library to protest their unpaid 14 months salaries.

    Workers and visitors were denied entrance into the building as the gate of the Library was shut.

    The contract workers claimed they were owed 14 months, saying appeals to the management to pay  have been unsuccessful.

    Head of the contract workers Ibrahim Danlami appealed to the National Librarian, Prof. Lenrie Olatokunbo Aina, to look into their plight and direct the management of the Minna branch to pay them.

    He said the strike would continue and the gate of the library shut until their salaries were paid.

    When contacted, head Librarian Mr. Philemon Arya, told our correspondent to call the head office in Abuja as he had no authority to speak on the issue.

    “Call our head office in Abuja. The workers should call the Chief Executive in Abuja and lay their complaints to him. I will not say anything about it,” he said.

  • COEASU workers protest over unpaid salaries

    COEASU workers protest over unpaid salaries

    Members of the College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) in Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, yesterday, marched on the college to protest eight months unpaid salary.
    They said the non-payment has turned them into “walking corpses”.
    The protesters, wearing black, were civil towards the government.
    They took off from the campus and went to Oyo town, singing solidarity songs. They carried placards, appealing to the government to bail them out.
    A protester, Nathaniel Adegbite, said: “If you look at the symbolism of our dressing, we are shrouded in black, trying to suggest to everyone that our condition is not just pitiable, but mournful.
    “As you see us here, we are walking corpses; half-dead and half-alive. Anybody can collapse any time.”
    COEASU’s Acting Chairman Olusegun Oyewumi said the protest was to show “our displeasure, and to plead with Governor Abiola Ajimobi that we are suffering”.
    “Our children are out of school because we cannot pay their fees. We cannot take care of our aged parents because of the condition we have found ourselves.
    “A lot of our members have been ejected by their landlords because they could not renew their rent. We cannot even afford three square meals. We are appealing to the governor to see our college as a social responsibility and pay our salaries promptly.”

  • Unpaid Salaries: Union tackles Rangers, others over players’ unpaid salaries

    Unpaid Salaries: Union tackles Rangers, others over players’ unpaid salaries

    • Threatens expulsion from CAF competitions
    • To invoke Article 3.1 of the CAF Club Licensing Regulations

     

    The National Association of Nigerian Professional Footballers  (NANPF) otherwise known as Players Union has appealed to all clubs that qualified for the 2017 Confederation of African Football (CAF) competitions, to settle all outstanding debts owed players and coaches or face disqualification.

    According to a release signed by the Union National Public Relations Officer, Ogidi Mohammed Mutairu, the clubs: Rangers International FC of Enugu, Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt and Wikki Tourists FC of Bauchi face debarment from CAF competitions.

    The release reads in part: “In the Light of the above, we as the recognised labour union passionately championing the cause of professional footballers in Nigeria are concerned that in the midst of the jamboree and fanfare that followed the achievement of these clubs, the purported cash gifts and allocations, to these clubs following their success, they seem to have sworn to starve players and coaches of these salaries and as usual disobey NFF Arbitration Committee decisions It is our insistence that this culture of clubs depriving players and coaches of their livelihood must stop.”

    It threatens to invoke Article 3.1of the CAF Club Licensing Regulations, which disqualifies clubs on the ground of no breach of contract by not paying its players and coaches their entitlements.

    “Consequently, we have written to the Nigerian clubs that qualified for 2017 CAF competition and their Commissioners of Sports in their respective states clarifying the following: That it is in the best interest of the players, coaches, the club, the country and image of the game, that the clubs liquidate all these debts for current and former players and obey the NFF arbitral decisions without delay.

    “That refusal, delay or neglect of payment is a “mortal sin” that will lead to unintended consequences and  embarrassment, as the club will have to contend with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in express breach of Article 3.1 of the CAF Club Licensing Regulations.”

    The Players Union claims to have received complaints from players and coaches that these clubs heavily owe players and coaches huge sums of money in form of salaries including the 2014/2015 season salaries.

  • Unpaid salaries: College workers begin indefinite strike

    Workers of the Abia State College of Education Technical at Arochukwu in Arochukwu Local Government Area have begun an indefinite strike over their unpaid salaries.

    They urged Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to settle the outstanding salaries to ameliorate their suffering.

    A communiqué issued at the end of the institution’s workers’ union by the Chairman of Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Dr. Joseph Kanu; Chairman of Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), Comrade Daniel O. Nwosu and Chairman chairman Senior Staff Union in College of Education in Nigeria (SSUCOEN), Comrade Frank Agoha, the leadership of the workers’ unions said the strike became imperative because the state government allegedly caused “extreme economic poverty and tension arising from non-payment of workers’ salaries for …seven months”.

    The unions noted that besides non-payment of workers’ salaries, the school’s workers had also not been paid the Consolidated Polytechnics and College of Education Academic Salary Structure (CONPCASS) and the Consolidated Tertiary Education Institutions Salary Structure (CONTEDISS), unlike their counterparts.

    They regretted that none of the school’s workers had been promoted “financially” since 2008.

    The communiqué added: “The above conditions of service have subjected workers of this college to material poverty, to living in penury, destitution and despair; engrossed in fear and uncertain of their tomorrow as well as depending, as though we are beggars, on the benevolence of other members of the society. We are being stretched too far beyond subsistence level and enduring prosperity. Our vital forces and moral stamina have diminished.

    “We fear more the education disarmament, which is the unavoidable outcome of an educational system where abnormal conditions of service erode workers’ strength…”

  • Bayelsa teachers to Dickson: Pay us our salaries

    Bayelsa teachers to Dickson: Pay us our salaries

    Primary and secondary school teachers in Bayelsa State, Wednesday, deplored eight months of unpaid salaries and marginalisation in the state appealing to the state Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, to pay the arrears.

    Marking Teachers Day in low key at their secretariat in Yenagoa, the teachers, under the auspices of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) said Bayelsa’s educational sector was replete with crises.

    The state Chairman, NUT, Mr. Kalama John-Tonpre, reeled out the problems facing teachers in the state as non-payment of salaries for about eight months; non-implementation of teachers promotion over the years and non-payment of annual increments.

    Others, according to him, are abdication of primary schools’ responsibilities by the state government and illegal dismissal of teachers employed in 2008 and 2009.

    John-Tonpre among others, further decried shortage of teachers without recruitment in the school system and non-provision of instructional materials.

    He said: “Some protracted but unattended issues in the sector are over-populated classrooms, poor standard of education resulting from poor funding, inconsistency and non-implementation of education policies.

    “Also, there is frequent disruption of the school system, moral decadence of the youth and eventually the underdevelopment of the state.”

    The NUT boss, however, acknowledged some efforts of Governor Seriake Dickson in educational development such as the construction off senatorial model schools, establishment of Teachers Training Institute (TTI) and repositioning the Isaac Adaka Boro College of Education.

    He regretted that teachers were suffering from marginalisation in the state and the country.

    “The current problems of the society characterised by disease, poverty, unemployment,  kidnapping, militancy,  injustice, lawlessness, greed for political powers and lack of conscience for humanity are all traced to the agonies of teachers”, he said.

    John-Tonpre appealed to the state government to as a matter of urgency satisfy the genuine demands of the teachers in the interest of advancing education for the benefit of the underprivileged in the state.

    He said: “Currently, so many teachers have retired and about a good number of teachers were dismissed from the school system with no recruitment of new ones to replace them.

    “Consequently, some primary schools in Bayelsa State have no single teachers to teach the children – our future leaders.  The issue deserves urgent attention as it portends danger at the foundation level of the education system.”

    He urged the state government to reinstate the dismissed teachers and recruit more teachers to fill the vacancies created in various schools across the state.

    He said: “Currently, so many teachers had retired and about a good number of teachers were dismissed from the school system with no recruitment of new ones to replace them. Consequently some primary schools in Bayelsa State have n single teacher to teach the children, our future leaders.

    “The issue deserves urgent attention as it portends danger at the foundation level of the education system. The NUT, therefore, calls on the state government to urgently reinstate the dismissed teachers and recruit more teachers to fill the vacancies created”.

    John-Tonpre also appealed to Governor Seriake Dickson to take up the responsibility of paying primary school teachers’ salaries because the councils alone could no longer bear such responsibility.

    Speaking at the event, the National President, NUT, Mr. Michael Olukoya, in his address read by the state Secretary, NUT, Mr. Jonhson Hector, called on the Federal Government and the relevant authorities to consider raising retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years.

    Olukoya further appealed to the Federal Government to ensure that only professionally trained and qualified persons were engaged in the proposed recruitment of 500,000 teachers to promote professionalism and effective service delivery.