The president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, has lamented that despite the financial bail out by federal government to some state governments owing workers’ salaries, Nigerians were yet to feel the impact of the bailout.
He said the congress having studied the situation carefully would personally and physically mobilize workers to demand for the payment of their salaries by some state governments discovered to have been cunning in the handling of the bailout. Comrade Wabba, who spoke in Abuja yesterday at the opening of the national executive (NEC) meeting of the congress specifically said some state governments have become cunning about the non-payment of workers’ salaries even after they had received bailout from the federal government.
“The 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. “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. We will be there personally and physically and lead workers to demand that these salaries are paid,” he said.
He also bemoaned claims by some state governments that some banks have seized their bailout as payment for debt owed by the affected state governments warning that workers should not be made to pay for the sins of their governors.
On the proposed merger of ministries, Mr Wabba said the union will resist any move by government to merge ministries if the action will lead to loss of jobs. According to him, such decision would be counterproductive to the ideology of job creation that the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) sold to the electorates during the campaigns.
Already the Chief Executives of five states; Kano, Benue, Kaduna, Yobe and Oyo, have pruned the number of operating ministries they intend to run their administrations with.
