President Goodluck Jonathan is yet to pay his aides salaries six
months after he hired them. Those affected are chief of staff, special
advisers, senior special assistants, special assistants and personal
assistants.
A senior government official told LEADERSHIP last
night that initially, the non-payment of the salaries was affected by
the inability of the aides to finish the documentation of their
appointments and later the dispute between the federal and the state
governments over the monthly federal allocation.
It was also
gathered that, civil servants have continued to express worry over the
delay in the payment of their staff salaries. It was learnt that by the
25th of every month, salaries of government employees in the ministries,
departments and agency were usually ready, but most workers have
continued to express dismay over the delay in the payment of their
salaries, especially as there was also a delay in payment of September
salary. As at press time, workers' salaries were yet to be paid.
In
March 2011, President Jonathan signed the Minimum Wage Bill into law
after its passage by the National Assembly. The new law also states that
private sector employers with more than 50 employees must pay workers
the new wage.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had before the
elections in April, threaten to withhold workers' votes, unless the
minimum wage law was signed and paid to workers. But the organised
labour later backed down from its threats when it went ahead to allow
its members to vote during the April elections.
LEADERSHIP
investigation can confirm that the N18,000 minimum wage is yet to be
paid to any worker in federal ministries, departments and agencies(MDAs)
till date. Instead, what the least paid civil servants have been
receiving remains the N17,000 approved by President Jonathan upon
inception of his administration last year.
In the same vein, the
salary structure of all other categories of federal employees remains
the same without any increment. Until this salary adjustment was done,
the least paid worker went home with a paltry N7,500.
An employee
of the Federal Ministry of Health, who spoke with LEADERSHIP under
condition of anonymity, condemned the development and likened it to the
growing culture of impunity in the Nigerian society.
He said:
"What can we do? If the federal government says they will pay N18,000
and up till now we have not seen any increase in our salary, who do you
complain to, are we to take them to court?
But I want to tell you
that we are not happy. Even though the least paid worker now, as of
today, earns N17,000, we expect the federal government to honour the
promise by paying the N18,000 it promised. Although, it is just a matter
of adding a few hundreds to our salary to make it N18,000, still, we
want it. Even though it is still not everything but it is something. If
you go to the market, things are so expensive based on this new minimum
wage of N18,000 but we are yet to receive it,"
When contacted for
his comment on the development, acting Secretary-General of the Nigeria
Labour Congress (NLC), Owei Lakemfa, denied knowledge of the situation.
He said, " We are yet to get any complain from our members in the
public sector. We are surprised that the Federal Government is not
paying the N18,000 minimum wage. In July, the organised labour signed an
agreement that this would be done, and at the end, a circular was
issued to all our members. That is the instrument of implementation of
the minimum wage.
The minister of labour and productivity,
Chief Emeka Wogu, had in an interactive session with the media recently
declared that the new minimum wage had become a law, adding that failure
to pay the new rate to workers in the public or private sector was
unconstitutional and a violation of the law.
When LEADERSHIP
visited the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for
clarification on the delay in payment of N18,000 minimum wage to federal
workers, spokesperson of AGF's office, Hassan Timon Dodo, said
government regretted the delay and was working round the clock to offset
the payment in all the MDAs.
He said: "Government is finalising
plans to commence payment of the minimum wage soonest. When these plans
have been concluded, payment would immediately commence in all
ministries, department, and agencies (MDAs) in uniform manner, without
any disparity," he said.
Our investigation further revealed that
employers in the private sector are also adamant with the N18,000
minimum wage. This is even as most private sector employers with well
over 50 staff strength are not complying with the new wages law.
For
instance, those employed in private security outfits, gatemen, street
sweepers, gardeners, among other categories of unskilled workers
continue to earn far below the N18,000 prescribed by the law of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
A Higher National Diploma (HND)
graduate of accounting who works in one of the top private security
guard firms in Abuja (names withheld), lamented his plight as an
employee of the security sub-sector. He said despite the new minimum
wage law, his employer still pays him and other secondary school leavers
as low as N10,000 monthly. But efforts to get the owner of the firm to
comment failed.
But when contacted, a very liable source in the
presidency disclosed to LEADERSHIP that the payment of minimum wage had
since commenced at the time the President declared it. He however,
stated that before the actual declaration by the president, federal
workers were being paid about N17,000 plus.
The source also
stated that Jonathan's approval of N18,000 only gave way for the
addition of N1,000 to the already paid N17,000 plus to make it N18,000.
Though, our source claimed not to know the actual amount of money added
to the N17,000 plus, he added that the appropriate information could
only be supplied by the Salaries and Wages Commission.
Further
investigation by LEADERSHIP regarding the non- payment of Minimum Wage
revealed that federal workers have not been paid as at Friday October
28, a development described by which many workers who were interviewed
by our correspondents as quite unusual.
The source also revealed
that the payment of October salaries for federal workers which has been
delayed has been cleared for payment, saying that workers would be
getting their salaries as from today
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