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Deputy Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last Governorship election in Kogi State, Hon James Faleke has sent a message of solidarity to the State branch of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other affiliate Unions on the untold hardships being experienced in the hands of the State Government by the workers as a result of unpaid salaries and allowances spanning not less than 14 months.
In a Statement issued to journalists in Lokoja yesterday on the occasion of the Workers Day otherwise known as May Day, Faleke lamented the agonies of workers and pensioners in the State despite the fact that bailouts were made available for payments of their outstanding salaries and allowances by the Federal government but which the state government has failed to do for upwards of 14 months.
According to him, the multiplier effect of the very unfortunate saga of unpaid salaries spanning more than one year has spiralled to an unprecedented height leading to the virtual collapse of the economy of the State.
“To my dear brothers and sisters who are workers on the payroll of Kogi State government, today is meant to be a day of celebration for you all, a day to sing,dance and merry but the reverse is the case. You are instead witnessing hunger, deprivation, depression and more no thanks to the over 14 months unpaid salaries and allowances. Personally, I feel your pains. I feel your agonies.
Surely this is a burden too heavy to carry for the mass of the workers and the good people of Kogi State. It is very unfortunate indeed”.
Faleke stated that “as things stand now, the state government led by Alhaji Yahaya Bello should as a matter of emergency commence the immediate payment of all salaries and allowances of workers and pensioners in the state or risk a complete collapse of the economy of the State”.
He explained that” the multiplier effect of not paying salaries even for 12 months in a state cannot be overemphasised. A salary earner who has not collected salary for 12 months will naturally not be in a position to patronise the garri seller or the yam seller any longer. The result is that the garri seller or yam seller,s business is gradually facing extinction owing to lack of patronage. The low and middle class would face economic crisis and of course the end result is better imagined”.
Continuing, Faleke said: “I am using this opportunity to call on Governor Yahaya Bello to stop grandstanding and pay the suffering workers in Kogi State to save lives and businesses and forestall the imminent collapse of the economy of our dear state. My heart bleeds for our dear state and I pray the almighty God to take control. Enough is enough! Pay the workers, reopen all the higher institutions of learning in the state that have been closed for over 4 months now. Let sanity return to the public service in the state. Let there be an immediate end to the starvation ravaging the landscape of Kogi. I’m really not surprised at the nonchalant attitude of the government, since he was never part of APC’s campaign nor did he promise any dividends of democracy.This is what you get from the government of a group against the people. But let it be known that posterity will never fail to judge those who assisted in one way or the other to put our workers in this condition”
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