Non-payment of salary: NLC calls for suspension of LG Chairmen in Nasarawa – www.Cliptvonline.com ~

By David Odama

FOLLOWING the non-payment of salaries to Local Government workers for over 8 years in Nasarawa, the Nigeria Labour Congress, Nasarawa State Chapter has called for the suspension of all the thirteen Local Government Chairmen in the state.

The suspension is to pave way for seamless investigation into the nonpayment of salaries and Pensions of workers of the local councils since 2012.

Chairman of NLC in the state, Comrade Yusuf Iya made the call on Thursday at the ongoing investigation to unravel the situation responsible for the nonpayment of salaries and pensions of local government workers in the state.

According to Comrade Yusuf Iya, “it is not justifiable to suspend only the accounting officers to the Local Government Areas and subject them to investigation for their alleged involvement in the over bloated salaries and nonpayment of workers in the local councils”.

He explained that the suspended Directors of Finance and supplies as well as Directors of Personnel Management could not have acted independently without the involvement of the chairmen hence the need for the investigative committee to invite all the Council Chief Executives to explain their roles.

He then asked the state government and the committee to equally suspend the council chairmen in order to ensure proper investigation currently going on in the state and to also apply proper sanction on the council chairmen found involved in the bloated salaries and wages at the local government Areas across the state.

Chairman of the Investigative Committee, Ishaya Awotu said the committee had identified poor financial record keeping and mismanagement in the local government system so far.

According to Ishaya Awotu who solicited the cooperation of all parties involved in the matter to enable the committee achieve the desired results, noted that no one would be spared   in the investigation process   .

It would be recalled that Governor Abdullahi Sule had suspended all the Directors of Personnel Management and Directors of Finance and Supplies in the  thirteen Local Government Areas over their alleged complicity to non-payment of salaries for Local Council workers.