Workers’ Day: List of the States that are owing workers' salary

As Nigerian workers joined their counterparts across the globe today to celebrate May Day, Glitter News Online compiled the lists of states that are owing salaries and allowances up to date. ONDO: In Ondo State, while pensioners are owed four months, civil servants are owed five. Abia State Civil servants are owed between two and four months, but workers of the state Health Management Board have not been paid since December 2015.

OYO Workers in Oyo State are owed between two and five months, their counterparts in Kogi are owed five months, while those in Benue State are owed three months. .

BENUE: As at today, workers are being owed three months salary arrears covering February, March and April, while pensioners are owed two months.

KOGI: The labour is worried over non-payment of five months salaries and other benefits accruing to its members. The NLC, in a communiqué issued in Lokoja, called on the state government to use the allocation it got for the month of February 2016 to offset the outstanding salaries for the month of December, 2015. The communique, which condemned the payment of salaries, piecemeal, said the payment for October and November 2015 spanned three weeks for each month. It equally called on government to direct the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to release the February allocation to local government areas to cushion the effect of non-payment of salaries to local government workers and teachers. The report added pensioners have not received their pension since December 2015 aside arrears of gratuity.

IMO: There is no doubt that there is a running battle between Imo State government and workers.The crux of the matter is on non-payment of salaries and allowances, as well as the palpable stagnation staring civil servants in the face. Government initially opted to downsize its workforce, which labour stoutly resisted. Many workers were actually sacked and a number of others were retired prematurely. The Imo workers situation became a running issue. At a point, the national and state leaders of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, emptied into Imo State, in solidarity with the workers. President Muhammadu Buhari At the end of the day, government and labour came up with the 70:30 sharing formula, for the payment of salaries. Events have since showed that following this sharing formula, no worker has been paid his full salaries and, since this agreement, workers have been paid only once. Some others, including Imo State University, Owerri, Ministry of Justice, Judiciary and some other establishments have not been paid in the past four months. A recent visit to the State Secretariat along Port Harcourt Road, Owerri, showed that workers are disenchanted and frustrated. Some of the workers who spoke to Sunday Vanguard said they were aggrieved and likely going to stay back home during the May Day celebrations.

They complained about hunger, inability to pay house rent medical and school fees of their wards and children. They did not equally see the rationale behind going to celebrate May Day.

OGUN: The state government had stopped paying gratuities since November 2012 and refused to increase pension. But workers, who spoke through one of the leaders of the union who pleaded anonymity, said the state government was owing them nine months deductions. He said the workers were hopeful that the governor might give them a surprise package on Workers Day.

OYO: According to the state Chairman, NLC, Mr. Waheed Olojede, government and workers have agreed that any allocation received by government would be spent on payment of salary arrears. He said government had paid salaries till December 2015, while local government workers on levels 1-12 had been paid till February, adding that other levels from 13 upward would be paid as soon as government account was credited from the Federation Account. BAYELSA: Bayelsa owed four months’ salaries while retirees are owed seven months arrears. The situation is worse in the local governments where workers in some of the councils have lost count of the arrears owed them. Though government has assured the traumatised council workers that the N1.2billion bailout from the Federal Government for the councils was ready to offset some of the backlog of salary arrears owed them, it blamed the delay disburment on the ongoing verification to ascertain the actual staff strength of the councils.The state wage bill is about N4billion while the allocation from the Federation Account, after all deductions, has dropped sharply with the last put at N1.6bn.

ABIA: Abia workers and pensioners are groaning over non-payment of arrears of salaries and pensions. While the arrears gap for the workers are gradually closing up, that of pensioners is widening.For the workers, they are owed between two and four months, with workers of the state Health Management Board being the highest owed as they have not been paid since December, 2015, while ministry workers are owed one and two months. Teachers, who embarked on three-day warning strike, were promised to be paid last week and if it had happened, it would have bridged their gap of their arrears to only one month. Though the state NLC commended the Ikpeazu government on its efforts to meet up with salary payment, it noted that it has a lot of work to do in the payment of pension. The pension arrears is over 19 months. According to the union, the backlog of arrears covered between 2014 and 2015, and called on government “to to make plans for clearing the arrears”. According to the state NLC, retired workers of the Abia State University Hospital [ABSUTH] are the worst hit as none of their retired staff has been paid pension since 2014.

ONDO: The state government is owing pensioners in the state four months pension while civil servants are owed five months salaries. The state Finance Commissioner, Chief Yele Ogundipe, said pensioners had been paid till December last year. He added that civil servants were owed from December last year till date . PLATEAU: The Plateau Chairman of NLC, Jubrin Bancir, said, “The situation of salary in the state basically is a little bit bad because, government is managing to pay January 2016 salaries. Local governments have paid up to February 2016, and are trying to pay March and April 2016. “For pensioners, it is up to eight months now and that is to tell you how precarious the situation is. This is exactly where we are, but we have engaged government basically before now and I always take opportunity like this to explain to the entire citizens what is happening.”

OSUN: The NLC in the state, led by Jacob Adekomi, said congress had reached agreement with the state government on the issue of salaries and pension. Adekomi’s statement on the matter read in part: “It has come to the notice of the state Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress that workers are not owed any outstanding balance of salary that has been received. This is a distortion of facts that is meant to cause disharmony between the state workers, who are currently pauperised and suffering, and the state government that has promised the entire work force and pensioners in the state of not only paying back the outstanding balance but also ready to compensate them for their perseverance, endurance and understanding when the economy of the state improves. “Therefore, congress is aware of some people’s, antics who are hell bent on causing crisis of confidence between the congress leadership and their members. It is the belief of the state Council of the congress that what workers in Nigeria as a whole and Osun State in particular are passing through will soon be a thing of the past.”

EBONYI: Peter Okutu reports, from ABAKALIKI, that Governor David Umahi, since assumption of office on May 29, 2015 has not owed workers a dime as he has made it a du