The strike embarked upon by the civil servants in Kogi State to press home their demands has been suspended following the signing of an agreement between the workers and government.
Both the organised labour and government, at a meeting in the office of the deputy governor Lokoja, the state capital today, resolved to allow peace rein and agreed to a 14-point demands.
Government side was represented at the meeting by the Deputy governor, Elder Simon Achuba, who is the head of the negotiation committee, Secretary to the Government, Mrs Folashade Arike Ayoade, the Deputy chief of staff in the office of the deputy governor, acting Head of Service, Mrs H.O.K. Lawal, the special adviser to the governor on labour and pension matters, Hon Halimotu Amodu, the special adviser to the governor on security, commander Jerry Omodara, the special adviser to the governor on youths and sports, Aromeh Adoji, and others.
On the side of labour were the state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Onuh Edoka, State Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Ojo Ranti Mathew, the vice chairman of the NLC, comrade Meliga Obaka, NUP state secretary, Joseph Ipamuda, representative of NULGE, Comrade Adeyemi, the representative of ASUP, John Friday Otaru and others.
Among the resolutions reached were that the Dr Jerry Agbaji, ‘s Committee’s Report which captures all MDAs, LGAs, LGEAs, tertiary institutions and pensioners be adopted with continuous sieving and filtering of the report with active participation of labour leaders and government.
Government and labour took note of the painful decision to use two banks for the purpose of paying salaries from the bailout fund and agreed that subsequent payment relating to bailout or other monies should not be vested in two banks only.
The others were that there should be a review by government on the recent appointments made at the local areas to reflect the principle of seniority as contained in all relevant extant civil service role, tax holiday be implemented by kogi state University and college of education Ankpa, in respect of all cases of over taxation as approved in 2015 for kogi state government, outstanding promotion letters be released to deserving civil servants, uniformity in the payment of salaries state wide and government and labour should hold meetings to deliberate on labour issues as the need arise.
On 2015 employment, the parties agreed that those who enjoyed salary should be considered.
Speaking at the signing of the agreement, the Deputy Governor, Elder Simon Achuba, expressed appreciation for the understanding shown by the labour leaders and the commitment of Governor Yahaya Bello to ensure industrial harmony in the state.
He assured that government would respect the agreement, urging labour to always verify issues concerning government before coming out with publication of any kind.
According to him, with the agreement signed, peace has been restored back to the state.
The NLC Chairman, comrade Edoka said the suspension of the strike would allow for further consultations and expressed thanks to workers for their support during the strike.
He thanked the government team for the show of understanding, promising that labour will continueg to support the present administration of the state led by governor Yahaya Bello.
