The Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) Nasarawa state Council has debunked BudgIT reports claiming that workers in the state are being owed their salaries.
The NLC Chairman, Comrade Yusuf Iya during a press briefing in Lafia, the state capital said, according to the BudgIT report, Nasarawa State is among the eight (8) States in the country that are in arrears of salaries of over six months.
“We, the leadership of NLC Nasarawa state, who are the representatives of the workers in the state hereby debunk, condemn and describe the report as false, fallacy malicious, concocted, baseless”,
“I wish to state here that since the inception of this administration of Engr Abdullahi Sule, both state and local Government workers including retirees have never been in arrears or even a month’s wage”,
“It should be noted that when Engr. Abdullahi Sule came on board as Executive, He met the Local Government staff and retirees receiving salaries/wages in percentage, he stopped that practice immediately”,
“Similarly, His Excellency the Governor inherited a salary liability which has
been hanging since 2016, amounting
to N720,000,000.00, he graciously approved the payment and
it was paid, not only that, His Excellency Engr Abdullahi Sule approved the implementation of pending promotion which has been hanging for over 14 years with a financial implementation of N216,000,000 thereby adding the sum to the state wage bill till date and he has never refused to pay for any month”,
Comrade Iya said.
He further called on Nigerians to disregard the report because it’s a gimmick aimed at causing confusion and political disorder in Nasarawa State.
In a related development, the Chief Press Secretary(CPS) to the Nasarawa state governor, Ibrahim Addra said the government does not owe its workers a single month’s salary.
He said the emphasis is necessary to correct the erroneous impression created by the BudgIT “2022 Sub-national Salary Survey” report.
“We challenge BudgIT to admit it has goofed and come out with a categorical statement and apology regarding the status of salary payment in Nasarawa State”, the CPS said.
BudgIT, an independent financial research and monitoring organisation had in a statement signed by Assistant Head, Media and Communication, Iyanu Fatoba, said that its “2022 Nigerian Sub-National Salary Survey,” showed that “at least 12 states owe their workers at least one month’s salary as of July 28, 2022”.
The top eight states listed to be owing salaries and pensions of at least six months include:
Taraba, Nasarawa, Edo, Ebonyi, Ondo, Plateau, Imo, and Abia.
Hauwa Abu
