States With Outstanding Salary despite Bail Out

This revelation came as
Organised Labour accused the
Federal Government of owing
civil servants a whopping N290
billion promotion arrears,
lamenting that all efforts at
making the government pay
had not yielded any positive
result.

Giving an overview of the
salary situations across the
states, Secretary-General of
Association of Senior Civil
Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN,
Bashir Alade Lawal, told
Vanguard that some states
were still defaulting in
payment, in spite of the huge
bailout received from the
Federal Government.

He said: “Osun State is owing
one year, Ekiti is owing six
months, Oyo is owing six
months, Ondo is owing seven
months; Beyelsa is owing
seven months; Abia, two
months; Benue four months;
Kogi 15 months; Nasarawa
three months.

‘’Ogun can claim it is not owing
but it is not paying deductions
from workers’ salaries in some
cases, six, seven, eight months.
They are only paying net, not
gross. So, if you have paid net
and you have not paid all
deductions, you have not paid
full salaries.

‘’As at today, Anambra is not
owing, likewise Borno, Delta,
Edo, Ebonyi, Cross River, Rivers,
Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano,
Katsina, Kebbi, Lagos, Niger,
Plateau, Taraba, Zamfara and
Sokoto.

“Anywhere in the world, you
pay workers’ salaries first
before doing anything else. For
example, in Osun State, some
senior staff are being owed
over two years allowances. In
order words, you can simply
say they are being owed one
year salaries. What are the
explanations? ‘’Bailout has
been given about three times
and the last one with clear
directive from the Federal
Government for the states to
focus on salaries and pensions,
but Osun State government
claimed that government was
not instructed to use the entire
bailout to pay workers’
salaries.”

In Kwara State, Vanguard
gathered that the government
has not paid staff in the
parastatals in the state up to
March, 2017 and that the last
time workers were paid was
February 2017.

It was also learned that the
local government workers are
worse off as they are being
owed as many as 11 months,
with the exemption of Barutin
Local Government which had
paid up to date because of its
low personnel staff and the
remote location.

Reacting to the development,
Senior Special Assistant to
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of
kwara State on Media and
Communications, Dr Muideen
Akorede, told Vanguard that
the state government had paid
workers in state parastatals ,
their salaries

He said: “We are up to date, so
we are not owing any of our
staff. If anyone has not been
paid, such staff will be paid
before the close of this week.
Though I don’t have all the
details, you may please contact
Commissioner for Finance,
Demola Banu, for more
information.”

Vanguard checks, however,
confirmed that staff of state-
owned Kwara TV; Herald
Newspapers, Radio Kwara,
were paid their March salaries
last week.

In Ondo State, Vanguard also
gathered that the state
government was owing six
month salaries- August to
December 2016 and January
2017, though the new
governor, Rotimi Akeredolu
paid salaries of August, 2016
as well as February and March
2017.

in is reaction, Chief Press
Secretary to the governor ,
Segun Ajiboye, said the
immediate past government
owed workers six months
( August 2016 to January
2017) salaries but noted that
the present administration
under Rotimi Akeredolu, had
paid February and March 2017
to workers on assumption of
office.

He added that during the
Easter period, Governor
Akeredolu also paid the arrears
of August 2016 to workers to
celebrate the festivity
In Oyo State, investigations
revealed that none of the
workers, both at the core civil
service and local government,
had been paid their salaries up
to March 2017, while some of
the workers are yet to be paid
since December, last year.