The President of National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Kogi State chapter, Comrade Tom Abutu, may have steered the hornet’s nest recently when he asserted that Kogi state government does not owe teachers’ salary.
Comrade Abutu made the statement against the general belief that the state government owed the primary school teachers in salaries and allowances for several months.
“Contrary to what the public is made to believe, it is the local government councils that pay the salaries of primary school teachers. The state government only pays the salaries of secondary school teachers,” he remarked.
The NULGE president for the state said that contrary to what happened in other states of the federation where monthly allocations for both the local government councils and states are pooled together before disbursement, Kogi State has nothing to do with local government monthly allocations.
He said that as NULGE boss in the state and a senior staff of one of the local government councils in the state, he was in a position to tell whether or not the state dips hand into the local government purse.
“It is unfounded to hear people say that Governor Wada’s administration owes teachers’ salary,” stressing that the LGs and the state maintain two different accounts.
He said that the blame was because the local government areas were yet to have autonomy as has been the desire.
Comrade Abutu, who spoke to our reporter in a no-holds-barred chat explained that teachers salary was deducted as first-line charge from the allocations to the local government councils, leaving the ‘remnants’ to payment of salary of NULGE members, development and running the office.
He said that he would not expect the state government to dip hand into its monthly allocation to add to primary school teachers’ salary, adding that the two accounts are separate in the state, unlike in some states where they are merged.
He maintained that those at the receiving end of the first-line charge deduction of teachers’ salary which is often handed over to SUBEB for payment are the local government workers.
He expressed optimism that the dream for local government autonomy would be realised, no matter how long it takes.
Source: The Graphic
