The organised labour on Wednesday sealed the gate of the Plateau State House of Assembly as Ministries, Department and Agencies began their 2023 budget defence.
Workers in the state on Sunday night embarked on five-day sit-at-home warning strike for non-payment of staff salary.
They are also complaining of other welfare issues.
The News Agency of Nigeria Correspondent who was at the assembly complex to cover the budget defence, discovered that the main entrance was sealed.
Some labour leaders at the gate told NAN that no worker would be allowed to go in and work.
NAN, however, discovered that the members of the assembly used the back gate to access their offices.
Speaking with the newsmen shortly after the eventual commencement of the exercise, the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Sanda, said the initial hiccups had been resolved.
Sanda said that the “assembly is labour-friendly” and described the incident that heralded the budget defence as unfortunate.
He said: “But of course, we spoke to one another to really understand the need for the budget process to start.
“We all know it has a timeline on which if we don’t conclude, it will affect the system entirely and everyone, including the civil servants, will suffer the consequences.
“So we tried to explain to one another for us to understand the need for them to allow the process to start and that is why the processes are now on.”
The Speaker stated that in spite of delay, the defence was going on smoothly and would be concluded on schedule.
According to Sanda, the members will work, including weekends, to get the budget ready for the Governor’s assent before the December 31, 2022 deadline.
He said that various committees would scrutinise the budget to provide solutions to the state needs.