The lingering feud between the organised labour in Kogi State and Governor Captain Idris Wada over unpaid three months salaries took a twist as it appealed to the traditional rulers, members of the House of Assembly and well meaning individuals in the state to pressurise the governor to immediately commence the payment of the salaries to avert throwing the state into total lockdown.
The appeal was sequel to the indefinite strike embarked on by all the organised labour union in the state which is in its third day without government showing signs of entering into negotiation with the labour.
In a statement issued in Lokoja yesterday and jointly signed by the Chairman of NLC, Onuh Eboka, A.D Ganiyu of TUC, Aaron Akeji of PSJNC and their secretaries, a copy of which was made available to journalists in the state, they noted that the union was constraints to down tools owing to the untold hardships workers are experiencing for the failure of government to pay October, November and December salaries, stressing that the government could not account for the federal allocations and internally generated revenues collected for the three months.
According to the statement, the government has embarked on dolling out huge sum of money to their cronies and politicians without recourse to workers plight.
They alleged that the governor has refused to pay the salaries because of his defeat at the polls.
“What did the state government do with the N10billion infrastructure fund it collected?
“Is it true that the governor approved and spent N700million in one week on security. Were we not in October promised salary before Christmas and what has happened now that he is paying us with hunger and death for being hardworking and dedicated to our duties?” the statement asked rhetorically.
In a related development, the Director Centre for Human Rights and Conflict
Resolution(CHCR), Idris Miliki, has urged the governor-elect, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, to set up a probe panel to ascertain the debt profile of the state to ensure that the phony projects were not allowed in the 2016 budget proposal.
Credit: Thisday
