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UNPAID SALARIES: Labour face to face with Gov Bello, tells him you have failed

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Communication blackout likely in 10 states as Kogi govt seals telecom hub sites

Apparently worried by the condition of workers in the state, Kogi state chapter of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday, engaged the state governor, Yahaya Bello in a ‘fight to finish’ show.

The NLC team led by the state chairman, Comrade Onuh Edoka at the government house in Lokoja, ventilated their annoyance at the governor who they said had done nothing to improve the state workers’ lives by owing them huge salaries.

Speaking to the governor at the government house, Comrade Edoka, told the governor to his face that he had done nothing to ameliorate the suffering of the workers who are practically dying due to non-payment of salaries.

The labour leader lamented that the governor is surrounded by people who were deceiving him that he has improved the lives of Kogi people, advising him to embark on personal findings to know his record of performance in the state, especially as poverty has ravaged the state due to the lack of salaries payment.

Going further, he expressed disappointment that the governor lied on national television that the workers in his state were not owed any salary.

He confirmed that workers in the state are currently owed several months salaries. Edoka analysed that there were categories of workers that were currently owed for 39 months, while some were owed between 7- 23 months.

Meanwhile, Governor Bello while responding to the Labour leader, said the choice of words by Edoka was too harsh and uncomplimentary.

He however, said Kogi State was doing well compared to some states in the country.

While asking the workers to desist from being confrontational, he maintained that his administration was doing its best to satisfy the workers, stressing that he inherited backlogs of his challenges from the previous administration.

Read also: Labour, PPP withdraw petitions against Wike’s reelection

Meanwhile, the Labour leader had earlier told the governor that he should stop blaming his woes on past administration as the past government only left three months’ salary unpaid for him.

His words; “let me put the records straight. The former governor, Captain Idris Ichalla Wada spent 48 months in office and he paid 45 months salaries leaving the allocation of December 2015 and January 2016 for your administration to access.

“Nothing is farther from the truth than this. The truth is that your administration is hugely indebted to Kogi workers and you should find a means to defray it rather than lying to the public”.

He however advised the governor to set up a committee that will do thorough findings on the state of workers and their family in the state, stressing that the situation in the state was worse to the level that pupils and students could no longer go to school; patients could not access drugs even as petty businesses had closed due to lack of patronage.

But the governor insisted that his government had done much with the lean resources to develop the state, arguing, that in less than three years he built Kogi Board of Internal Revenue Service office complex and completed Ankpa township roads.

He called on the leadership of the organised labour to support his administration for the dividends of democracy.

It was gathered that the governor resolved to call the meeting with the state workers due to a raging report that the organised labour was planning to mobilise women to embark on nude protest over their unpaid salaries.

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