As representatives of 21 Peoples Democratic
Party [PDP] governors mounted the rostrum
Saturday night at the presidential villa in Abuja
to announce N1.05 billion in donation to the
PDP, back in their respective states, school
teachers and other state workers were enduring
their second or third month of work without pay.
PDP Governors at Governors Forum
In some states, the indebtedness to workers
stretched a year.
In Ebonyi, authorities owed teachers under the
Universal Basic Education scheme nearly 12
months of salaries.
In Abia State, secondary school teachers were
last paid in August, while primary school
teachers have been owed since October.
In Akwa Ibom State, the nation’s leading oil
producer which draws more than triple of what
other states receive from the federation account
monthly, local government staff were on strike.
Before the strike, they were forced to receive half
salaries for several months, while authorities
claimed they had no money.
In Cross River, the situation had worsened after
months of indebtedness that state-run television,
the Cross River Broadcasting Corporation, CRBC,
shut off production last week.
The station remains off air till date. Other staff
fortunate to have received reasonably up-to-date
pay, have yet to be paid for November.
But on Saturday night, Cross State governor,
Liyel Imoke, stood next to his Bauchi State
colleague, Isa Yuguda, as Mr. Yuguda announced
to a gleeful president and a shocked nation how
the 21 governors who had been struggling to pay
salaries long before the present oil crisis, rallied
N50 million each in donation to the PDP.
“We may do more in future, but that is what we
were able to raise for now,” Mr. Yuguda assured.
In all, the PDP and the president raked in over
N21 billion, with donations coming from
government contractors, nameless associates,
and Tunde Ayeni, the head of Skye Bank, who
has bought a string of government assets,
including the mega telecoms carrier, NITEL/
MTEL, in a process that has already become
controversial.
On Monday, Arabian Amlak Investment Limited,
one of the 22 companies that bid for NITEL, filed
a legal challenge, saying the Nigerian
government, through the Bureau of Public
Enterprises, deliberately skewed the privatisation
process to favour Mr. Ayeni’s company.
As chairman of the PDP fund raiser, Mr. Ayeni
donated N2 billion. He announced that he was
donating N1 billion on behalf of himself and an
unnamed partner, and another two billion on
behalf of his friends. After a while, Mr. Ayeni
returned to the podium to announce another
donation of half a billion naira on behalf of
himself and other players in the country’s power
sector.
A former Information Minister, Jerry Gana,
announced a donation of N5 billion, again, on
behalf of his unnamed friends and associates in
the power sector.
Other major donors were oil and gas operators–
N5 billion; players in Real Estate and Building –
N4 billion; Transport and Aviation – N 1billion;
Food and Agriculture – N500 million; Power –
N500 million; Construction – N310 million; Road
Construction – N250 million; National
Automotive Association – N450 million; Shelter
Development Limited – N250 million; and SIFAX
group – N100 million.
But the governors’ donations stood out for many
reason, including the fact that workers in many
of their states remain without pay for months
even with Christmas and New Year around the
corner.
In Plateau State, under Jonah Jang, workers are
currently owed three months of pay. In Ondo
State, Governor Olusegun Mimiko has also failed
to pay secondary school teachers and other
categories of workers for the last three months.
In Benue State, workers have been at a
longstanding confrontation with the governor,
Gabriel Suswam, who has yet to pay them for
months.
In Abia State, led by Theordore Orji, beside
secondary school teachers who were last paid in
August, and primary school teachers, last paid in
October, secondary school teachers told
PREMIUM TIMES on Monday they have not
received leave allowances in the last five years.
In Enugu State, civil servants are yet to be paid
for November, more than three weeks into the
new month. Workers who spoke to PREMIUM
TIMES said in past years, the culture was that
by now, they would have been paid for
December.
On Monday, labour union leaders in the state
gave the state governor, Sullivan Chime, a 21-
day ultimatum to clear salary backlog and
resolve other pending issues relating to staff
welfare or face strike.
A statement signed by Igbokwe Igbokwe, the
state Chairman of the Joint Public Service
Negotiating Council (JPSNC), and the chairmen
and secretaries of all labour unions in the state,
vowed to commence an indefinite strike January
15, 2015, if the demands are not met.
Akwa Ibom’s case remains one of the most
intriguing given the amount the state draws
monthly. While other states receive an average of
N5billion, Akwa Ibom and Rivers State receive as
much as N25 billion monthly as federal
allocation.
Still, state workers and pensioners have not
received pay for several months, and local
government workers are currently on strike.
While the state is not directly responsible for
paying local government workers, all states in
the country operate a compulsory joint account
with local governments, and disbursement of
local government funds are carried out by the
governors.
No comments: