Vow to purge the system of anomalies
The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Kogi State chapter, on Thursday, revealed that names of children and some people receiving double salaries have been discovered in the payrolls of some councils in the state.
The President of the state chapter of NULGE, Tom Abutu, told journalists that the underage ghost workers were detected during the ongoing screening exercise being carried out in all the 21 local government areas by the union, in partnership with ALGON.
Commenting on the inability of many local governments in the state to pay the full salaries of their staff in the past three months, Abutu alleged that names of staff members that ought to have retired five years ago were discovered in the payrolls.
He blamed the development on politicians and some entrenched interests, saying that a final list of all the affected persons was being compiled with a view to showing them the way out.
Abutu also blamed the inability of the local government to pay workers their full salaries on over-bloated payrolls and dwindling allocations from the federation account.
He called on the state and federal governments to come to the aid of the councils. Abutu also expressed concern over the inability of the local governments in the state to pay their workers the approved new minimum wage of N18,000.
“It is a pity. The matter is already creating a tense situation in all local governments,” he said.
He said that the state government had issued a circular directing the councils to commence implementation.
The NULGE boss pleaded with all local government workers to remain calm and refrain from being used by mischievous elements to breach the peace of the state.
Abutu assured that efforts were being made to rectify the situation and address all other outstanding issues of workers’ welfare with the state government.
