Pray: may Bala not turn to Bala’i for Bauchi workers; for now, the unduly low wage they pay workers which aggravates the cost-of-living crisis they face fail to sway Bala in any way.
Unlike Bala, good governors all over Nigeria have since started paying the new minimum wage following the passage of the National Minimum Wage (amendment) Act 2024 on 29 July 2024. (One of the laudable legislative achievements of the APC administration under President Tinubu).
Despite growing calls, Governor Bala refused to join the good governors. He chose to wilfully flout the new minimum wage law thereby denying Bauchi workers their right to a ₦70,000 minimum monthly wage.
When Nancy Illoh of AIT asked him about the minimum wage, Bala angrily answered by saying he pays the old, illegal minimum wage, religiously. Is he religious? Bauchi no be Lagos, Bauchi no be Rivers — no rivers of money, he meant. Looking at his revenue, Bala thinks it might not be enough. Bala also asserts that because he’s “doing projects and programmes” he may not be able to pay the minimum wage. Projects! I will tell you one of the projects Bala’s doing with his financial consultant which oozes a sweet stench of malfeasance.
This year, between January and June, Bala gave his financial consultant ₦11.7 billion. Curiously, the payment was extrabudgetary. Original ₦3 billion budgetary allocation magically turned to ₦11 billion expenditure. Compare this with the paltry sum of ₦6.1 billion Bala paid the entire retirees of Bauchi State in the last 9 months. This ₦6.1 billion consists of ₦156.1 million gratuity and ₦6 billion pension. Bala budgeted just ₦10 billion for pension and gratuty. About ₦4 billion less than he wants to dash his consultant. See 2024 Q3 Budget Performance Report dated 28 October 2024 (04Q3BPR).
These retirees who received ₦6.1 billion number in thousands and this consultant who got a handsomely cheque of ₦11.7 billion is just one single person! See why we have increasing inequality?
In his over 5 years as governor, from 2019 to 2024, Bala was only able to pay “over ₦3.4 billion in gratuities and pension arrears to retired civil servants” according to Senator Bala Kariya, chairman of Bauchi State pension board, as reported by Wikkitimes on 12 July 2024. This is less than 30% or about one-third of the ₦11.7 billion Bala paid his consultant by June this year.
Last year, 2023, Bala paid over ₦9 billion to this phony consultant (03Q4BPR). Thus, this so called consultant got ₦21 billion from Bauchi State in the last two years. This is more than the total sum due to the retirees of Bauchi State; which is “around ₦20 billion” according to Sen. Kariya’s estimates of the total backlog of gratuity for retirees of the Bauchi State civil service as reported by Wikkitimes above.
Now, let’s talk about revenue; Bala says Bauchi doesn’t earn much – untrue. Nancy reminded Bala that his federal allocation has vastly improved: ₦133.18 billion as at September as evidenced in 04Q3BPR. Yet, in his characteristic whataboutism, Bala said don’t ask me Nancy, did you ask President Tinubu. O boy we’re talking of Bauchi not Abuja.
Like Nancy but unlike Bala, his two honourable commissioners, Aminu Hammayo (Budget & Planning) and Dr Yakubu Adamu (Finance) believe, justifiably so, that Bauchi’s revenue earnings were great, describing same as “commendable.” (Ibid.).
When I checked how much revenue accrued to Bauchi from January to September this year, I saw a humongous sum of over ₦273.9 billion. (04Q3BPR). Is this amount not enough to accommodate the increase that will arise from the payment of the new minimum wage? Definitely, especially given that the current average monthly wage bill is less than ₦4.2 billion (Ibid.). Certainly the increase won’t be up to the ₦11.7 billlion Bala misappropriated on the financial consultant.
Again, talking about Bala’s projects — boondoggles — one thread runs through them all: what is in it for Bala. Will his sons get something out of it? Is it rewarding to his family and friends? That’s why he likes to spend big, but not on basic needs of Bauchi people like the minimum wage, healthcare, education, portable water and food especially for babies suffering from acute malnutrition. According to Doctors Without borders, 23,000 of Bauchi babies suffered severe malnutrition between January and June this year. Sadly, many have died and are dying while the lifesaving therapeutic food is as cheap as chips. Biyu kobo.
Bala has a deliberate distorted spending priority; expending hundreds of billions of Naira in big infrastructure projects that are overly costly capable of begetting bribes and kickbacks like the over ₦20 billion flyovers, ₦13 billion Government House renovation and ₦10.3 billion Ningi road and ₦31.7 billion “security vote” spent this year and over ₦38 billion cornered in Government House overhead cost by this September end. (Ibid.).
Bauchi earns enough, nay too much money to foot the new minimum wage bill. Bala won’t just pay. He’d rather pay himself, his consultant, his friends and family. He even borrowed ₦99.1 billion to fund his boondoggles so far. But not minimum wage. The governor has neither empathy nor sympathy for the suffering workers of Bauchi. He hates them! In Bala’s over 5 years as governor, Bauchi workers, retired and serving, have endured, receiving nothing but disdain, contempt and cold shoulders from the governor. Allah kawo agaji da canji wa ma’aikatan Bauchi.
Saadu is the Chairman of APC Publicity Committee, Bauchi State. [email protected]
