Civil servants in Bauchi State have accused the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC in the state of “colluding with government” to shortchange them in the name of fighting coronavirus.
WikkiTimes recalls that the State Government had in recent days announced that one percent will be deducted on the salaries of civil servants to help the state government bolster its purse to confront coronavirus.
The NLC had in a statement backed the government’s moves on the one percent deductions, saying “under the resolutions reached, Permanent Secretaries and their equivalents will contribute 10 percent from their salaries for the months of April, May and June 2020.
“Directors on Grade levels 16 to 17 both in the State andLocal Government will contribute 5 percent of their salaries for the period of3 months” the NLC statement read in part.
But top civil servants who spoke to WikkiTimes alleged thatthe Bauchi State Chapter of the NLC has compromised the wishes of the civilservants.
“No one is consulted on this Scam they are trying to do.They just invited the NLC and bribe them so that Bauchi civil servants would beextorted,” a senior director at one of the MDAs told WikkiTimes in anonymity.
He added that “when they wanted to deduct money to fundBauchi Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Agency, BASOVCA, that was what theydid, thereafter they invited the NLC in what looks like a play book to do somecover-ups”, he alleges.
The Director regretted that the Bauchi State Chapter of theNLC “has become one of the MDAs in Bauchi state, they don’t speak for civilservants anymore and we don’t have confidence on them.
“Look at how they surreptitiously and corruptly concedednegotiations with the State Government on the consequential salary adjustmentfor civil servants; what do we call this if not collaborative corruption againstthe civil servants?
Another Civil servant who spoke to our correspondent fromGamawa LGA said the move by the state government to deduct salaries to fightCOVID-19 is “more dangerous than the virus politically for the government”.
“Bauchi is a civil service state, the workers they aretrying to extort constitutes the majority of voters in the state and they influencemany voters too, who are either their wives, sons and daughters or relativeswho directly feed under them.”
He called on the state governor Bala Mohammed to reconsiderthis decision what other alternative options.
“We have political office holders involving both federal andstate law makers, why wouldn’t the state government called them and requesttheir support financially?
“Why are they reverting to the innocent poor civil servantswho live from hand to mouth”, he queried.
He described as unfortunate the move by the NLC to back thestate government “without due consultations”.
“Who have they consulted? Don’t we deserve to be consultedbefore decisions are taken on our behalf,” he interrogated.
