Okorocha, Ayade, Fayose, 16 others get one-month deadline to pay teachers

The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) yesterday gave a 30-day ultimatum to 19 governors to offset salary arrears and other emoluments owed members.

The union, which wondered why the affected state chief executives found it difficult to defray the backlog with the Paris Club refunds, threatened to mobilise for an indefinite strike at the expiration of the deadline.

Its national president, Comrade Michael Alogba Olukoya, who spoke in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital after the NEC meeting, named the affected states as “Benue (10 months); Ekiti and Cross River (six months each); Kogi (15 months with half salary being paid since 2013); Ondo (five months), Taraba (four months); Niger (three months), Delta (three months), and Oyo (three months owed primary and secondary school teachers).”

Others include “Abia (five months); Osun (paying teachers half salary for 23 months); Nasarawa (paying half salary for 18 months to primary school teachers); Plateau (half salary since 2010); Adamawa (four months) and Bayelsa (eight and half months).

The rest, according to the NUT boss are “Imo (paying 70 per cent monthly salary to primary and secondary school teachers); Kwara (paying by percentage and owing four months) as well as Borno and Zamfara (both yet to implement national minimum wage).”

Olukoya stated: “We hereby give a 30-day ultimatum to all the above mentioned states to pay all the outstanding salaries being owed the teachers. They will soon collect another Paris Club money and so we hope they will pay all the backlog of salary arrears. If any state fails to pay up within this stipulated time, we shall converge again and give a notice of action. There is going to be total disconnect between us and such governments.”

He continued: “The NEC also kicked against the call for autonomy of local government councils”.

Olukoya said the sad experience of the recent past when primary schools were left with the councils was still fresh.