The Nation Newspaper

Tag: unpaid salaries

  • Abia workers’ unpaid salaries

    SIR: When Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and other patriots in the Nigerian Governor’s Forum were raising awareness on the massive misappropriation of the country’s oil earnings and lack of accountability, the PDP led Federal Government went all out to weaken, if not destroy, the governors forum. It suited them to do so in order to have no challenge in their rapacious treasury looting.

    But now, even PDP governors are feeling the pinch, yet none of them can muster the guts to complain. A major fallout of this is the inability of some states – ironically enough, mostly PDP – controlled – to pay workers’ salaries.

    In Abia State, the situation is about one of the worst. For about four months now, primary and secondary school teachers, Abia SUBEB staff and staff of Secondary Education Management Board have not been paid their salaries. (Salaries were last paid for April). Local Government workers were last paid in May. Staff of the state radio and television station, the BCA, are equally being owed salaries running into months as are those of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba. That of Abia Poly was so bad that for eight months no salary was paid to workers until recently when they were paid only four months following a strike.

    The question workers – teacher, LG Staff, Abia SUBEB staff, etc. are asking is:

    What is going on in Abia State? Are the state and local government allocations not coming to Abia State? How is it that the local governments, being run with Governor T. A. Orji’s appointees since 2011, cannot pay salaries given that none of the councils embarked on any meaningful development projects. It is infuriating when the government assails us with propaganda on its so – called Legacy Projects. Who will enjoy these ‘Legacy Projects’? Corpses. When citizens have been starved to death, who then will enjoy those “Legacy Projects”?

    It may suit the Abia State governor to treat workers anyhow because he is not coming up for re-election, but his party, PDP, should note the ill-will his actions is attracting to the party.

    The labour unions – NULGE, NASU, NUT, etc, and the parent body, NLC – should note that their members are disappointed in them for keeping quiet over this matter.

    As for the opposition parties, namely APC and APGA, I urge them to sit up and speak out on the many failings of the T.A. Orji-led government of Abia State. With a good, sustained campaign on the failings of the PDP government in Abia, the opposition will easily defeat the party in the 2015 general elections.

    The governor and his party are forgetting that civil servants constitute a significant part of the population that bothers to vote at elections.

     

    • Ibe A. Uche

    Umuahia

     

     

  • Federal workers groan over unpaid salaries

    Federal workers groan over unpaid salaries

    With many federal civil servants yet to collect their backlog salaries, the hardship is beginning to take its toll on workers, it was learnt.

    The Nation can authoritatively report that the majority of the affected workers are finding the situation very unbearable as many of them are lamenting the non-payment of their salaries.

    Investigation by The Nation revealed hints that things could get worst became noticeable as majority of the workers received their last August salaries in mid October.

    Confirming this development, a cross-section of the affected civil servants who would not be named confided in The Nation that some federal civil servants have not received salaries in the last one year.

    One of the workers said: “It is highly reprehensive what the Federal Government is doing. For the past few years, workers don’t get their salaries from January to March. It is only after March that the management starts to pay. You can imagine after spending your money during the festive period and when your salary is supposed to be paid at the end of January, you are subjected to about two months delay. I tell you that can be seriously frustrating.”

    Corroborating his colleagues, a civil servant who simply identified himself as Taiwo revealed that: “Apart from the salaries of November, many federal government workers have not been paid for up to a year, while others are owed between six months and some three months.”

    “Without mincing words, I think this is a breach of contract on the part of the Federal Government and the height of irresponsibility as no explanation whatsoever is yet to be received from our employer over the delay in the payment,” a pensive Taiwo lamented.

    Pressed further, Taiwo said: “Additionally, remittances from people’s salaries are delayed and seldom released to the rightful associations like RATTAWU or NUJ, NLC, NMA, to which these monies belong for alleviating union members of their various needs in moment of challenge.

    “The workers are asking to be treated as human beings, whose needs are ever piling up and debts are weighing them down. The concern is that, as the festive period looms, ability to go shopping could become elusive and this will no doubt be another uphill task to deal with.”

    The Nation however learnt that the problem associated with delays in processing salaries could be traced to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Payment Identification System – IPPIS, a new and unified system of payment introduced about a year ago by the Federal Government in a bid to fish out ghost workers, curb wastage and prevent further corruption in the system.

    Since its introduction, it has been fraught with irregularities and resultant hardship for many workers.