Ogun releases N200m for LG workers’ salary arrears

Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees says Ogun State Government has released N200m to settle part of the arrears owed council workers in the state. Workers in the 20 local governments in the state, under the aegis of NULGE, had given the state government a 21-day ultimatum to settle the arrears owed them or risk an indefinite industrial action.
NULGE Caretaker Committee Chairman, Benedict Akinleye, however, told journalists on Friday in Abeokuta during a press conference on the union’s forthcoming Award/Gala Night, that the amount was part of the first tranche released by the government for the payment of the workers’ arrears.
Akinleye said the union had reached an agreement with the state government on the modalities for offsetting the accumulated debt, which he said, was due to the failure to remit pension deduction from the workers’ pay.
He commended the Governor Ibikunle Amosun administration for releasing the N200m  as first installment to effect  the payment of debt owed by the past  administration.
The union leader, however, appealed to the state government to fulfill its promise to support the councils with the payment of the second installment so that the LG chairmen could sustain the payment of workers’ salary by the 26th  of every month.
The Chairman of the Planning Committee of NULGE Award/Gala Night, Mr. Tola Osunlaja,   expressed  regret that  only senior and top management staff  in many organisations  were usually considered for awards, while the junior  and unskilled workers were not reckoned with at all.