No fewer than 15 states are still owing their workers a backlog of
salaries and allowances, despite double bailout funds from the Federal
Government, with Kogi State topping charts with as many as 15 months
salaries unpaid.
SOME STATE GOVERNORS
Also on the list of heavily indebted states are Osun, 12 months; Kwara, 11; Bayelsa, 7; Ondo, 7; Ekiti, 6; and Oyo, 6.
Others are Benue State, 4 months; Nasarawa State, 2; Abia, 2; Imo, 2; as
well as several months of unpaid allowances and Ogun State, which owes
over six months of unremitted deductions from workers’ salaries for
cooperatives, union dues, among others.
This was revealed as Organised Labour accused the Federal Government of
owing civil servants a whopping N290 billion promotion arrears,
lamenting that all efforts at making the government pay had not yielded
any positive result.
Giving an overview of the salary situations across the states,
Secretary-General of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria,
ASCSN, Bashir Alade Lawal, told Vanguard that some states were still
defaulting in payment, in spite of the huge bailout received from the
Federal Government.
He said: “Osun State is owing one year, Ekiti is owing six months, Oyo
is owing six months, Ondo is owing seven months; Beyelsa is owing seven
months; Abia, two months; Benue four months; Kogi 15 months; Nasarawa
three months.
‘’Ogun can claim it is not owing but it is not paying deductions from
workers’ salaries in some cases, six, seven, eight months. They are only
paying net, not gross. So, if you have paid net and you have not paid
all deductions, you have not paid full salaries.
‘’As at today, Anambra is not owing, likewise Borno, Delta, Edo, Ebonyi,
Cross River, Rivers, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi,
Lagos, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Zamfara and Sokoto.
“Anywhere in the world, you pay workers’ salaries first before doing
anything else. For example, in Osun State, some senior staff are being
owed over two years allowances. In order words, you can simply say they
are being owed one year salaries.
What are the explanations?
‘’Bailout has been given about three times and the last one with clear
directive from the Federal Government for the states to focus on
salaries and pensions, but Osun State government claimed that government
was not instructed to use the entire bailout to pay workers’ salaries.”
What can you say of your state?
