ONDO WORKERS SAGA!!! GOVERNOR AKEREDOLU AT LOGGERHEADS OVER FRACTIONAL PAYMENT OF SALARIES OF ONDO WORKERS….
ONDO WORKERS SAGA!!! GOVERNOR AKEREDOLU AT
LOGGERHEADS OVER FRACTIONAL PAYMENT OF SALARIES OF ONDO WORKERS….
CHRISTIAN ROWLAND reporting live for ODOGWU MEDIA..live from Ondo State.The union leaders, under the aegis
of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JNC) of the state, decided to
reject the offer after a failed negotiation with the state government over the
nonpayment of their outstanding salaries and pension arrears.
Organized labor union leaders in
Ondo State are at loggerheads with Governor Rotimi Akeredolu over his offer of
a “fractional payment” meant to offset the outstanding salaries and arrears of
civil servants in the state, ODOGWU MADIA has learnt.
The union leaders, under the aegis
of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JNC) of the state, decided to
reject the offer after a failed negotiation with the state government over the
nonpayment of their outstanding salaries and pension arrears.
The state workers’ demand for the
payment of their outstanding salaries came on the heels of the disbursement of
the second tranche of the Paris Club refund to the state by the federal
government.
Our correspondent reported that the
government workers are owed six months’ worth of salaries accrued from August
2016 through January 2017 by ex-governor Olusegun Mimiko.
Governor Akeredolu, who began his
term in February 2017, has thus far only offset one month, August.
The governor had on several
occasions vowed to make the welfare of the civil servants in the state a top
priority of his government while also soliciting for an increase in the
Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state.
On July 19, 2017, Governor Akeredolu
confirmed receiving a total sum of N7,003,648,314 as the state's own
share of the second tranche of the Paris Club refund released to all 36 states
of the federation.
Mr. Akeredolu, in a statement issued
by his head media aide, Segun Ajiboye, said 75 percent of the fund would be
devoted for payment of workers’ salaries and pensions while the remaining 25
percent would be used for government exigencies.
He explained further that 32.68
percent of this same refund would be allocated to the local government areas
while the state government would receive 67.32 percent as its own share.
ODOGWU MADIA observed that since the disbursement of the Paris
Club refund to the states, civil servants have been demanding the quick payment
of their outstanding arrears from the money.
But on July 31, 2017, Mr. Akeredolu
met with leaders of the organized labor unions in the state and told them that
75 percent of the Paris Club refund, approximately N4.7 billion, could not
offset the outstanding salaries of the civil servants.
Sources at that meeting told ODOGWU
MADIA that both the labor leaders and
the governor reached a deal where 75 percent would be used to offset workers’
salaries up till the grade level that it could accommodate.
“But after that meeting with the
governor, the state Head of Service and the Accountant General met again on
behalf of the government with the labor leaders and turned down the initial
deal with the union and went ahead to propose a percentage [fractional]
payment.
“This means that some workers would
have to receive half or quarter payment of their outstanding [September]
salaries and arrears but the workers have rejected it anyway and will have to
state their position on the way forward,” the source said.
Meanwhile, last Thursday the labor
unions issued a statement in Akure and vehemently rejected the idea of a
"percentage payment" to offset the workers’ outstanding salaries by the
Akeredolu-led government.
The statement obtained by ODOGWU
MADIA was jointly signed by the trio of
Bose Daramola, Chairperson of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Sola
Ekundayo, Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Adeleye Oluwole, the
Chairman of the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) in the state.
The labor leaders all demanded for a
full payment of the 2016 workers’ salaries and asked the government to better
devise means of paying the outstanding arrears without further delay.
“Organized labor met today,
Thursday, the 10th of August, 2017, and resolved as follows:
“That percentage payment or
fractional payment in whatever form is unacceptable to Ondo State public
servants and pensioners; that government should look inward to augment and pay
September 2016 salaries in full to all workers and pensioners in the state.
“While assuring Your Excellency of
our support and loyalty at all times, it is our wish that the entire workers of
Ondo State will receive their September 2016 salaries and pensions without
further delay,” the statement read.
Speaking further, the Chairman of
the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JNC), Adeleye Sunday Oluwole,
said the government should reason enough with the state civil servants who are
demanding for the full payment of their outstanding salaries.
Mr. Oluwole, who spoke with a ODOGWU
MADIA correspondent in a phone
interview, explained that the labor leaders are not fighting the Akeredolu led
government but are only protecting the interests of the workers, hence the
rejection of the percentage [fractional] payment offer.
“We are not fighting the state
government over the outstanding salaries. What we are demanding is that over
N400 million will still be needed to pay the outstanding salaries of the
workers.
“We said they should help us to add
this money from the treasury of the state government to at least offset just
one month [September] but they are saying no to this.
“The N4.7 billion from the state could
only pay 80 percent of one month’s salaries for workers.”
He added that the government of the
All Progressives Congress (APC) was still new in the state and could not be
solely blamed over the woes of the outstanding salaries, but stressed that
Governor Akeredolu should put the interest of the workers at heart by holding
onto his promises.
ODOGWU MADIA observed that the monthly wage bill of the
state is still put at N3.9 billion despite the discovery of some ghost workers
in the state football agency in June.
To Advertise you can contact Christian Rowland
Email: [email protected]
Phone 07068107427
Rowland Gate Media Editorial World.
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ONDO WORKERS SAGA!!! GOVERNOR AKEREDOLU AT LOGGERHEADS OVER FRACTIONAL PAYMENT OF SALARIES OF ONDO WORKERS….
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Tuesday, August 15, 2017
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