Unpaid salaries: Workers threaten mass action in Kogi as Reps mandate CBN to explain utilisation of Salary Bail-out Funds to states

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Organised labour in Kogi State has threatened to call out its members for mass action, should government continue to default in the payment of salary to workers.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC) issued the threat in a statement in Lokoja on Tuesday signed by Olakunle Faniyi, secretary of NLC, Mr James Kolawole, TUC and Mr Isa Abubakar of the JPSNC.
They said that the mass action was to protest government’s insensitivity and indifference to the plight of their members that had not been paid salaries for between two and 21 months.
The officers said though the unions directed the workers in the state to embark on indefinite strike since Sept. 27, the state government were yet to invite them for negotiation.
They said that workers would not succumb to threat of sack and called on them to remain firm and committed to the struggle.
“It is the right of workers to embark on strike when their employers have failed to meet with the terms of employment, therefore the principle of ‘no-pay-no-work’ also applies,” the unions said.
In a related development, NLC President, Ayuba Wabba,on Tuesday in Abuja appealed to Nigerians to rally round Kogi workers by donating relief materials to them.
Wabba, who was answering questions from newsmen on the Kogi worker, Edward Soje, who committed suicide on Friday, said this was necessary to avert another act of suicide.
Soje had taken his life after going through 11 months without his monthly salaries.
“With the suicide mission embarked upon by the worker, it shows that Kogi State workers are already internally displaced.
“This unfortunate suicide mission by the Kogi worker is an issue that should worry all Nigerians, as non-payment of salaries is becoming a reality among workers in the state,’’ Wabba said.
He disclosed that the NLC would soon have an audience with Governor Yahaya Bello in view of the fact that the plight of workers in the state was becoming worrisome.
The NLC president, however, pointed out that non-payment of salaries had assumed a dangerous dimension in the country by leading to workers committing suicide, and should be tackled headlong.
He said the labour union would also take its case to the National Assembly.
“We will be demanding that the legislative body should urge governors of affected states to pay salaries when due.’’
Wabba however said it was unfortunate that the Kogi governor had two weeks ago during a courtesy call on President Muhammadu Buhari claimed that he was only owing two months’ salaries.
He added that it was more embarrassing that the same governor had, through the state’s Head of Service, later owned up that his government owed Soje only eight months’ salary.
“This is an issue the NLC will not take lightly. We are resolute and we will mobilise our people to protest the non-payment of salaries in Kogi.
“We have learnt however that the governor is in the habit of using thugs to harass people, but we shall be there, because we know he is not ready for dialogue,” the NLC president said.
Soje, a Director in the Kogi State Civil Service, had committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree in Lokoja, the state capital.
He was a Grade Level 16 officer in the State Teaching Service Commission at the time he took his own life.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has mandated its Ad Hoc Committee on Bail-out Funds to investigate non-payment of salaries of Kogi workers and report back within one week.
The House also mandated the Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) to, within one week, report and explain the utilisation of Salary Bail-out Fund given to states.
The directives followed a unanimous adoption of a Motion of Urgent National Importance moved by Rep. Sunday Karimi (Kogi-PDP) at the plenary presided by the Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara on Tuesday.
Moving the motion, Karim said in spite the federal statutory allocation, salary bail-out funds and Paris Club refund received by Kogi  Government, non-payment of state and local government workers salaries lingered.
He said Soje committed suicide for not being able to meet his obligations as a father and a husband.
The legislator said the deceased took his life after his wife was delivered of a set of triplet at an Abuja hospital last week.
The lawmaker explained that the late senior civil servant was being owed 11 months salary which made it difficult for him to meet his responsibilities.
According to Karimi, the situation of Soje is the lot of the majority of the civil servants and pensioners in the state.
He expressed concern that the state government had opposed to and refused any authority to investigate the non-payment of staff salaries.
According to Karimi, if nothing is immediately done about the situation in Kogi, more civil servants who were frustrated will commit suicide
In her contribution, Rep. Nkiruka Onyejeocha (Abia-PDP), said it was sad for parents, who work for Kogi State Government, to go several months without pay.
Onyejeocha called on legislators to support the motion and urged the committee to treat the matter with high speed.
Rep. Jimoh Olajide (Lagos-APC) commended the mover of the motion for the courage to speak for the people of Kogi.
He said the function of government was basically to ensure the welfare and security of the people.
According to Olajide, a situation where civil servants are committing suicide, nobody knows what is next.
The lawmaker, who advised the three tiers of government to be considerate and just, urged Nigerians not to commit suicide, no matter the difficulty.
The House urged the Federal and State as well as Local Governments to prioritise payment of salaries.

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