The Niger Delta Empowerment Group has urged the Nigeria Labour Congress to declare strike action in all the states where workers were owed salaries.
Executive Director of the group, Jude Tabai, made the remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Lagos.
Tabai argued that most of the governors owing salaries may be ending their tenure in 2019, hence the need to get them to pay all accrued salaries, pensions and allowances owed workers before they vacate office.
He said: “Nigerians, CSOs NGOs and labour must come out to first protest against the governor’s impunities. I think this will guarantee safe landing in the case of salaries increment.
“I feel the pain of the masses over this strike and call on state labour leaders to call for strikes in their various states. This way pressure will be put on governors to pay arrears of salaries and pensions before embarking on nationwide strike.”
Tabai said the NLC should have prioritised the picketing of states owing salaries over the ongoing strike.
He said: “Fighting for the minimum wage is not wrong but the timing is not correct. All it will achieve is to accrue more monies in the pockets of governors who may likely not implement it.
“As a true Nigerian, I believe that if we get it right in the states, most Nigerians will heave a sigh of relief.
“The federal government has good intentions of coming up with a good package for workers.
“But some states are making it an issue and are kicking against any salary increment due to fears they might not be able to meet up a new minimum wage payment for now.
“Our major challenge is to address the issues of the monies all the 36 states received as Paris fund refund despite getting their normal statutory allocations.”
He accused some state governors of converting the Paris fund refund to personal use rather than using it to pay salaries and carry out governance in their various states.
He said: “Some of the governors diverted the Paris funds. The question is why labour leaders kept mute in the face of non-payment of salaries in their various states which has been on for some years now.
“Where were the labour leaders when arrears of salaries accumulated over months to the detriment of the masses?
“What measures did labour leaders take when the president was crying about the selfish attitude of governors over diversion of monies belonging to states for payment of salaries? These are questions for the NLC.”
He said ongoing strike would only put more monies into the hands of governors without the suffering masses benefiting from the increment.
He added: “We wish to state clearly that governors’ impunity must be tackled by labour leaders of their various states.”
Tabai urged the NLC and its associated unions to mobilise to tackle the governors.
Trending
- Traditional ruler shot dead inside palace
- Primate Ayodele to Yoruba Nation agitators: You can’t break Nigeria
- Police intercept bags of Indian Hemp at Lagos jetty
- Enugu, families to give Ibu, Junior Pope befitting burial
- Police arrest suspects for attempting to disrupt inauguration of commissioners
- Police rescue three children locked up by grandmother + Photo
- Police foil attack in Katsina, neutralise suspected bandit
- US vetoes Palestine’s request for full UN membership