Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Ebonyi APC, APGA demand payment of workers

Ebonyi APC, APGA demand payment of workers
The leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in  Ebonyi State Wednesday described as regrettable and unfortunate the delay in the payment of May and  June salaries of workers in the State by the government having received last month’s allocation and the bailout fund released to states by President Mohammadu Buhari to enable states settle outstanding salaries owed workers.
In a statement signed by the state former Chairman of the party and the newly elected Deputy National Secretary of the party, Comrade Jerry Obasi stated that it is worrisome that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government after receiving the federal  allocation and the bailout was yet to pay   the salaries of workers.
According to the release: “We in APGA, Ebonyi State after elaborate review of the delay in the payment of workers salary, viewed with serious discontent the economic hardship and increase in criminal activities that the payment has caused in the state. We feel so surprise because, there was a bailout fund from President Mohammadu Buhari for states owing workers salaries but Ebonyi is not one of the states indebted.
“Ebonyi is not indebted because the former Governor, Chief Martin Elechi before leaving office cleared all outstanding workers salaries. I don’t know why they should continue to withhold workers salaries but for me it is quite worrisome that the state that benefited from the bailout fund today owes workers.”
The APGA Deputy Governorship candidate in the 2015 general election further noted that one of the institutions that made Chief Dave Umahi governor were the civil servants adding that the workers contributed immensely because “there is no family in Ebonyi State that you don’t have at least one civil servant either in the junior cadre or senior.
“We are worried because the delay has caused a lot of economic hardship to the people of the state and it has also given rise to criminal activities in the state.
“The party also views it as inhuman because no reason was either given by the governor or any of his principal officers for the delay in the payment. The question that agitates our mind is, why would the workers be the once to suffer in the present administration, what are they owing the workers for?. It is a very bad way to begin. One of the campaign promises of the Governor is that he is going to implement the 100% minimum wage salary but now payment of the salary has become impossible. Such policy must be reviewed as a matter of urgent public importance”.
Obasi further pointed out that the governor must be challenged to pay workers their salary.
“You can imagine a situation where a poor person like me would be entertaining civil servants who came to borrow money from me. More worrisome is the situation of many parents not being able to pay their children’s schools fees and having them sent out of school for non -payment of school fees. Those children are now forced to stay out of school and miss their final team examination.
“That tells you the level of hardship in the state, I am urging the governor not to set a bad precedence at this time that the other zones of the state decided to cede power to the southern zone of the state.
“He must be a good ambassador of the South by ensuring that workers salaries are paid as at when due as witnessed in the past administration. If there are any wrong done to him by politicians, he should not extend the hardship being experienced in the state to workers”.

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