With barely twenty-four hours to the Guber and House of Assembly elections nationwide, workers in Imo State may not participate as a pay back to Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha whom they accused of bluntly refusing to pay them their March salaries.
Some of the workers who spoke to this Paper wondered how they could travel home to cast their votes for APC without their March salaries. Most of them claimed they left their PVCs at home after the presidential, senatorial and House of Reps elections.
Our correspondent who visited the Imo state secretariat said the workers have started venting their anger starting with shunning of the mid-day prayers which they recalled was enunciated by Owelle. They said a man who claims to be prayerful couldn’t have had the guts to starve his workers.
Another way the workers are showing their anger over nonpayment of their March salaries is by refusing to go to work since Monday this week while those who had the stomach to attend, would just reach the office, write their names and disappear.
They recalled that the Governor had earlier announced that workers in the state should be paid on or before the 28th of every month lamenting that the Governor took their hopes high only to abandon them midway.
A woman who spoke to Trumpeta recalled how she had to celebrate the Easter without salaries and vowed not to use the little she kept behind to transport herself and family home to go and vote.
Meanwhile, a market survey has revealed that the traders are complaining bitterly of no sales because the large patronage they get from Civil Servants is no more there. Many of them revealed too that they may not travel home to go and vote.
Just like the civil servants, the traders would want to conserve the little they have because they wouldn’t know when the workers would be paid.
In another development, Imo State Primary school pensioners, who are owed over 2years of pension arrears have cried out for assistance as they can no more afford drugs to cure sickness and buy food to sustain life. Lamenting their plight in a chat with Trumpeta, a pensioner and a native of Dimagu in Ideato South LGA, Mr B.C Osuala said the deplorable condition has sent many pensioners to their untimely graves.
He appealed to Governor Rochas Okorocha to change his mind. As he put it”, let the primary school pensioners live”. “They have been in this miserable condition hoping that one day the pharaoh that knows Joseph will mount the throne”.
Mr Osuala, revealed that the backlog of their arrears since 2012 has not been attended to and that up to between twenty (20) and twenty three (23) months arrears, has kept most of them highly indebted while some are seriously down with sickness.
The pensioner said that they so fed up that anytime the radio plays the jingle “is there anything that I told you I will do which I have not done”, the pensioners at home in their houses say yes!
He however, extolled, Okorocha on his provision of physical infrastructures but submitted that human infrastructure should not be treated with scornful levity, as one has to be alife to appreciate good road, building, solar sheet lights.
It will be recalled that sometime in February, over five hundred (500) numbers of the pensioners protested over nonpayment of their arrears and gratuity, an action that was defended by the government as politically but Mr Osuala said they were not motivated insisting that “the number mentioned above cannot be the entire members of the group as many did not take part due to incapacitation.
