Niger assembly, labour reject half salaries for civil servants

The Niger State House of Assembly has accused the governor, Abubakar Sani Bello of “unlawful” 50% cut in the salaries of the state’s civil servants.

While rejecting the slash, the house described the governor’s action as not only “illegal, inhuman and highly irresponsible” but condemnable.

It would be recalled that the state’s civil servants were last Friday surprised to receive half salary alerts from their various banks, after a stakeholders meeting with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had ended in a deadlock.

This follows the governor’s earlier declaration that government will no longer borrow money to pay civil servants’ salary and pleaded with the labour to accept a 50% cut from their salaries.

This decision however, did not go down well with the labour, whose officials had walked out of an expanded stakeholders’ meeting involving labour and the traditional rulers, led by the chairman and Etsu Nupe, Yahaya Abubakar.

Shortly after the meeting, state chairman of the union Idris Ndako and its Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Yunusa Tenimu, issued a statement rejecting the offer and gave government two weeks to reverse the decision.

The unions, which called for the full payments in subsequent months, threatened to embark on indefinite strike if the decision subsisted.

The house committee on labour matters, dismissed the governor’s action, saying he had no reason to pay half salaries, given the numerous loans it has so far taken in the last one year.

Chairman of the committee, Abdulmalik Madaki disclosed that since the inception of this administration, the house has approved a loan of over N1.8billion to enable it settle the arrears of inherited salaries.