Some federal government workers have angrily protested over non-payment of their salaries in full by the government leaving many of them in hunger.
The Joint Workers Union of the Public Complaints Commission on Tuesday staged a protest over the non-payment of their salary in full since January 2016. The union Chairman, Mr. Joshua Ogunyado, said that the salaries of the union members were being paid on percentage basis since the beginning of the year.
Ogunyado said that the protest became necessary following the failure of PCC management, the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Budget and National Planning to address the problem after several meetings.
He said, “The problem started in January when we began to have delay in the payment of workers’ salaries and when they started paying after two months, they began to pay in percentage.
“We have come to realize that the management of PCC, the National Assembly, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Budget and National Planning are responsible for this problem.
“Only N2 billion was approved for PCC in the 2016 budget and this represents 50 per cent of what is needed to run the commission.”
Ogunyado said the salaries were being paid piecemeal since January and vowed that the union would continue the protest until the outstanding arrears were settled.
Reacting, the Chief Commissioner of PCC, Chief Emmanuel Ogbile, appealed to the union members to be patient with management, adding that efforts were being made to address the problem.
Ogbile said that the management was aware of the fact that the union members had been restive for the past two weeks but assured them that the challenge would soon be over.
He said that the annual budget of the commission was already receiving attention at the relevant ministries.
He said, “The two concerns that we have — annual low budget and the shortfall arising from the 2016 budget — are both being addressed positively.”
NAN