Anambra govt refutes PDP’s alleged deductions from workers salaries

Anambra State Government, yesterday, refuted alleged deductions from workers’ salaries to stabilise the Ndiolu Micro Finance Bank (NMFB) Limited, saying such deductions were used to implement the agreement between labour and the bank.

The state’s Head of Service, Harry Udu, stated this at a media briefing in Awka, while reaction to Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) claim, in which it accused the government of deducting some percentage from workers salaries to recapitalise NMFB in line with a supposed Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive.

The state PDP had raised concerns about the welfare of Anambra State civil servants, who it said, were coerced to part with certain percentage of their salaries.

In a statement issued in Awka, the party said: “What a responsible and responsive government should be doing now is to think of how to alleviate the suffering of workers and not making things harder for them through illegal deductions from their salaries.

“We demand that the deducted money from the workers’ salaries be returned immediately.”

Udu, however, said the opposition party was whipping up unnecessary sentiments to pit the labour movement against Governor Willie Obiano, who had been good to them in the last seven years.

“The board and management of the bank presented the challenge to stakeholders and leadership of the workforce and they agreed that deductions be made according to the workers’ grade levels to facilitate the bank’s capitalisation.

“The NMFB was solely owned by Anambra workers and not the state government as insinuated by the PDP and that fact could be verified in the bank’s website.

“Labour leaders, including the state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have refuted the politically motivated statements and allegations,” he added.

Udu, who described the PDP’s statement as “untrue and can only be borne out of political mischief,” cautioned political leaders to discourage acrimony between the governor and workers, as the cordial relationship between them had lasted for over seven years.