Edoka returned as Kogi NLC chairman ...bemoans condition of workers.

Onuh Edoka

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Kogi council on Thursday, lamented the condition of workers in the state.
It deplored a situation where workers in the Kogi State Civil Service beg to feed their families, due to nonpayment of their salaries.

The state chairman, Comrade Onuh Edoka who was returned for a second term in office, stated this during the 7th quadrennial delegates’ conference in Lokoja.

According to him, workers are owned between seven to 30 months’ salary arrears by the state government.
He appealed to the state government to do something urgent to reverse the negative trend.

The situation, he said, has made it impossible for them to meet their obligations to their dependants.
He further expressed regret that workers are being owed their leave bonuses, while promotion carried out by the government are cash backed, saying that such promotions only existed on paper.
He said worse still are the local government workers, who according to him, are being paid ridiculous percentage salaries spanning several years.
He said that the ministry of local government has become a government of its own.
While painting a pathetic picture of pensioners in the state, he noted that despite the fact that the retirees do not collect their pensions regularly, several are not even placed on pension list, months and in some cases over one year after retirement.
He appealed to the state government to pay more attention to the welfare of workers, saying that the screening exercise though, desirable, was responsible for the accumulation of backlogs of salary.
He called on the Federal Government to release the balance of N30.8 billion bailout fund, to enable the government defray salary arrears owed to workers in the state.
In his response, Governor Yahaya Bello promised to continue to prioritize the welfare of workers in the state, even as he said that the balance of the bailout fund would be used for payment of salaries only, when released.
The governor who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Chief Edward Onoja, commended the workers for their support to his administration.
According, the screening exercise, though painful, has recorded positive results, as unintended beneficiaries have been eliminated from pay rolls of the state.
He listed other achievements of his administration to include improved security of lives and property, saying that kidnapping and other violent crimes have been reduced to the barest minimum.
Other achievements according to him include robust healthcare delivery, qualitative education and investments in critical infrastructural development across the three senatorial districts of Kogi state.
Highlights of the occasion was the election of officials to run the affairs of the union for the next four years.

Comrade Onuh Edoka and his team were returned unopposed for another four year term of office, while the workers passed a vote of confidence in the team, for purposeful leadership.