Northern Governors Delay Payment of N35,000 Monthly Wage Award

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Niger State,  Abdulkhareem Lafene, has lamented that months after organised labour and the federal government agreed on the payment of N35,000 to workers to cushion the effect of removal of petrol subsidy, civil servants in the northern states are yet to receive the award.

 Lafene said northern governors were yet to take a joint decision on the payment of the award, resulting in non payment in all the states of the northern part of the country.

He said the Niger state Governor, Umaru Bago, at a meeting with  organised labour disclosed the plan by the northern governors to take a common stand on the issue so that: “it will not be Kano paying a different amount and Jigawa paying a different amount and Niger paying a different amount which may cause confusion”.

“The national crisis is almost resolved because what the labour agitated for are being addressed. People have been arrested and are being prosecuted.

“Government is doing what it is supposed to do. Those that are sacked are being recalled, they are receiving their letters,” Lafene said.

 But he added that there are other issues in the agreement which the federal government must address before the end of December this year.

The Niger State NLC chairman commenting on the issue of alleged dress code announced by Bago said the directive was illegal and cannot stand.

“I will be the first person to go against the law because in the first place there is no law,” he added.

He said if the governor wants a dress code for workers, he should sponsor a bill to the State House of Assembly. Bago has however clarified his statement claiming he was quoted out of context.