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The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has alleged that some state governors are still defaulting in payment of workers’ salaries despite the bailout funds recently provided by the Federal Government.
Labour also alleged that some of the state governors might be conniving with commercial banks to perpetrate the non-payment of salaries under the guise that the affected states were indebted to them.
NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, made the allegations on Thursday in Abuja at the National Executive Council meeting.
Wabba, who described the development as worrisome, said the congress, having studied the situation carefully, would personally and physically mobilise workers to demand for the payment of their salaries by the state governments discovered to have been fraudulent in the handling of the bail out.
“We are worried by the failure of some states to pay their workers despite the bailout by the Federal Government. NEC will not fold its arms to watch workers salaries not being paid as at when due.
“It is an issue that we will follow up to its logical conclusion with specific actions and processes that will lead to tangible results.
“We take exception of states where the excuse is that the stimulus is not only for payment of salaries.
“The decision of the Council of State is very explicit and workers salary is not only the area where stimulus have been extended to, it has been extended to the banks where they had challenges, the power sector companies and other sectors, so therefore it is what we can term very legitimate for an intervention to be made because of the difficulties.
“But, we want Federal Government to follow it up to look at how those resources have been used to attend to those challenges, labour will look at the issues at this level of NEC and identify states that have been cunning and will offer leadership to be there personally and physically and lead workers to demand that these salaries be paid,” Wabba stated.
The NLC leader also warned the Federal Government over its planned merger of ministries, parastatals and agencies of government, insisting that such exercise would have adverse effect on the economy.
He alleged that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari planned to use the merger of the MDAs to lay off workers, rather than exploiting means of creating more jobs.
