A joint union of workers in Oyo State has condemned the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters in the state over the manner it treats workers under it.
The state’s workers made this known, on Monday, in a press statement made available to journalists, to declare the poor state of the workers in the state.
The statement, signed by the President of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees, Com. Titilola-Sodo Bayo, Chairman of Nigerian Union of Teachers, Com. Akano Samuel Oluniyi; and Chairman of Nigerian Union of Pensioners, Pa. Gbadegesin Akande, was the first time that three unions held press conference together.
According to the release, while Oyo State Government disburses its monthly allocations promptly to pay workers and pensioners, the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters hiding under a punitive and self-serving of Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) to hold allocations for upwards of two to three months before releasing them to pay workers’ salaries and pensions.
The statement added that, while the allocations are kept in the banks for unknown reasons, while workers and pensioners wallow in undeserved poverty.
It noted that, right now, while Oyo State Government had paid its workers and pensioners two months salaries and pensions from Paris Club fund and a month allocation, the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters was yet to release fund to pay local government workers and pensioners, serving Primary School Teachers and retired Primary School Teachers.
According to the release, the Ministry is claiming that the addition of State Internally Generated Revenue, IGR which was not forthcoming from the State Government was stalling the payment of the arrears while noting that if N2billion needed to be released to pay the arrears and N1.8billion is available, the Ministry should go ahead to use the available fund to pay the arrears until remaining N200million is accessed.
The unions therefore demanded that from now on, the arrears of the workers and pensioners must be paid in full; that the subsisting memorandum of understanding entered into by the joint Labour Centres with the state government in June, 2015 that 100% of allocations be dedicated to the payment of salaries and pensions be implemented henceforth by the ministry and among other demands.
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