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From Ola Muhammad, Birnin Kebbi
Kebbi State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described the October speech of Abubakar Chika Malami promising workers some incentives as deceptive and unrealistic.
State Chairman of the NLC, Usman Murtala, stated this in a statement on Thursday, describing Malami’s pledges to Kebbi workers as a mere political statement made to spice up his campaign and to deceive gullible citizens of Kebbi with issues already taken care of by the Kebbi State Government.
According to him, “Let us set the record straight. On his pledge on prompt payment of retirees’ gratuities in Kebbi State and pensions, Malami is not in Kebbi or not following events concerning retired civil servants. Because every reasonable Kebbi indigene is aware that since Governor Idris came on board, he has never delayed payments of gratuities to retired Kebbi civil servants. The records are in the public domain.”
Usman explained that pensioners in Kebbi State are living witnesses that there have been prompt payments of pensions without any backlogs or delay.
“Often, pensioners receive payments before serving workers in the state. So, we view his claim or pledge as a plot to gain public or workers’ sympathy.”
On the new minimum wage of N110,000 Malami proposed, the NLC leader stated that the Kebbi State Government is paying above the Federal Government’s N70,000 because Kebbi is paying N75,000 consolidated with leave grants.
“No state in the federation is paying the minimum wage Kebbi State is paying. Therefore, to pledge N110,000 as new minimum wage is nothing but a mere political statement.”
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On the pledges on public transport for workers in the state, the NLC noted that Malami deliberately refused to mention the recently launched Kebbi State Transport Authority which was designed to ease transport problems for all the people of Kebbi State, including workers shuttling from their villages to the State Secretariat.
In the area of housing, Murtala explained that workers are to get affordable housing because work has reached an advanced stage and over 700 housing units for Kebbi workers have been approved by the Kebbi Governor before the Independence Day speech of Malami.
The NLC added that in the health sector, over 1,800 new health workers were employed across the state and local governments to boost healthcare delivery in Kebbi State.
He said primary education has also received proper attention with the recently approved and implemented responsibility allowances and consequential adjustments on their salaries.
Murtala noted that in the Governor’s actions to decongest the population of pupils in primary and secondary schools across the state, the Idris administration had built over 200 schools and renovated them with furniture, and employed 2,000 teachers which the opposition are aware of but refused to admit.
He said: “Ordinarily the NLC doesn’t join issues with politicians, but it is imperative that certain issues the ADC candidate raised in his speech were a direct attack on the union which has been fighting for the rights of workers.
“Maybe he is not aware or probably didn’t fact-check that promotions of workers have always been implemented alongside yearly increments for Kebbi workers. While wishing the good people of Kebbi State happy Independence, we urge politicians to cross-check their facts before going on air,” he added.
