Except the Imo State Government adopts a measure to please workers of the various LGAs in the state the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Imo State chapter is about to down tools against the wishes of the governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma.
Reason for the screening confrontation against the state governor is the threat from NULGE declaring that it would embark on strike coupled with demonstration if they were not paid before Friday.
Trumpeta notes that workers of the 27 LGAs are yet to receive their March salaries.
The NULGE in a resolution sent to the governor through the Chief of Staff accused government of buying time by delaying salary payment on the basis of embarking on fresh screening.
According to the workers union ““That the Government which has all personal and official records of her workers from Adam, decided to buy time when it initially feigned that the delays in the payment of the March salaries of the LG workers was caused by the non-submission of the soft copies of the salary details by the Council Treasurers.
“That whereas the Council Treasurers worked very hard to beat the deadline for the submission of the said soft copy of salary vouchers that also contain the BVN and account details of staff from their different homes in the face of the total lock-down declared by the Your Excellency as a measure to fight against the deadly COVID-19, the Government after it exhausted all believable excuses it could hide, under to further punish the Local Government workers by withholding their March salaries, now resorted to the most vexation and provoking antics as announced by your commissioner for information.
“That the Union finds it very difficult to believe the latest press statement from the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Declan Emelumba through the Orient FM, Owerri and other local media outlets wherein he somersaulted from his earlier dummy that Government had cleared all payments of salaries. Mr. Emelumba was quoted as saying that the reason for the latest delay was caused by a discovery of “overbloated wage bills” and claimed that; government has embarked on a verification exercise. He went ahead to announce that the Local Government workers would be paid “in few weeks time”
“ That whereas Governments all over the world have been announcing different palliative measures to cushion the harsh effects of the lock- down order on their citizenry and whereas some Slate Governments like Lagos, Ebony, Anambra and Ondo have paid their Workers up to April, your Government has shown the greatest act of insensitivity by not just failing to provide any palliative measures to her Workers but has gone ahead to wickedly withhold their legitimate salaries even in the face of the biting hardship”.
However, while verification has commenced in some LGAs, NULGE, Trumpeta learnt wrote against it and ordered members not to comply with the fresh verification exercise adding that should the salaries not paid on or before Friday the LGAs shall be closed down with an accompanying demonstration to protest against no payment of salaries for the month of March.
