Imo Workers Panic Over Non Payment of Salary In 2016

BY GRACE IGWEANYI  

Imo Workers Protest In Owerri... last month

It is three months in the year 2016 and workers in Imo State have continued to lament over non-payment of salaries since the New Year.

There has been no official reason for the delay by the Imo State Government despite the sharing of monthly allocations to States and local Governments in the federation for the month of January 2016 by the Federal Government.

Imo State gets 80% of its monthly revenue from the federation account but has taken serious measures to boost its Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) by imposing taxes on all taxable persons including traditional rulers and the unemployed.

It was unconfirmed as at press time if Imo State has received its share from the federal purse for January.  

Our reporter who visited the State secretariat yesterday, March 1^st, 2016 saw some of the workers lamenting the situation in low tones.

Aside the workers, public office holders and political appointees are said not to have received a dime as salary since the New Year.

A lawmaker in the State House of Assembly had told this online newspaper that they have not been paid as well. There was no independent verification of his claims.

Last week, INNONEWS.COM reported that some workers alleged that the State Government requested for their biometric verification numbers (BVN), a situation which fueled hopes that they will soon be paid.

The State has been battling with huge drop in funds it receives as monthly allocation from the Federation account.  The situation is applicable to some other States in the Federation. The falling price of crude oil is however largely responsible for the shortfall. The price of crude had hovered between $28 to $33  per barrel since December 2015.

Last month, the Imo State government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) signed an agreement which compels the government to concede 70% of the entire monthly revenue of the State to payment of workers’ salaries.

It had sacked 3,000 workers from agencies and parastatals it considered non productive, only to reverse the action after  workers in the State with the support of the national leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and Trade Union Congress, TUC, protested in Owerri.