The State Chairman of NLC, Onuh Edoka, threatened that his members would embark on protest if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) failed to release the N50.8 billion approved for the state to offset backlogs of workers’ salaries.
The Governor Captain Idris Wada, however, indicated that the delay in the release had to do with the bureaucracy on the part of CBN who sent an email that they wanted to have the biometric data of teachers and all the local government workers that they were claiming the bail out for.
“We supplied because we had done biometric verification to eliminate ghost workers and teachers, then later they said they wanted BVN numbers for these people and we said look BVN has just been introduced, many have complied, allow others to go and get their own, that should not withhold the processes of this fund because our workers are in expectation.”
The chairman who addressed a media conference in Lokoja, expressed bitterness over alleged political manoeuvres that had since dogged the release of the fund which many other states had already accessed.
“Comrades, our hope towards accessing this life-line is about to crash as a result of some political wrangling especially between two political parties who are contesting the state gubernatorial elections next month.
“According to our findings, investigations revealed that some powerful politicians in the country using the CBN have been making unusual demands from Kogi State government before this money is finally released.
“Comrades, we are using this medium to prepare your minds for a mass protest very soon if in about a week, maximally, no tangible progress is made in our efforts to have this money.
“We will block all major roads leading in and out of Lokoja, the state capital and tell the whole world what those who are asking for our votes are doing to us. We will inform all security agencies in due course,” he said.
Edoka wondered why the CBN was requesting for BVN of workers and hard copies of payment vouchers for the period of the state’s indebtedness before releasing the bailout fund, whereas such demands were not made from other states before the funds were released to them.
“You can therefore see our dilemma and thus the reason to cry out, especially to President Muhammadu Buhari who on inauguration promised that he belonged to nobody, while he belonged to everybody to direct CBN to release our money to us without further delay,” Edoka said.
Edoka, who warned the state government against diversion of the bail out when it is eventually released, called for involvement of the organised labour in the disbursement of the expected funds.
