We are not political civil servants, labour replies Gov. Bello over unpaid salaries

-Gov Yahaya Bello and organized labour in Kogi state differ on outstanding salary for workers.

-Governor claims civil servants not reporting for duty are politically motivated.

-Civil servants in the state went on strike on September 22, saying workers were owed between two months and 21 months salaries.

Members of the organised labour union in Kogi State has urged Nigerians to disregard the falsehood being circulated by the Kogi state government that the striking workers in the state, demanding payment of their salaries are politically motivated.

The response from the workers is predicated against the claims by Governor Bello Yahaya in which he claimed to have settled outstanding workers’ salary in the state and that those on strike were ‘political workers’ who want to bring down his government.

The workers, in a statement jointly signed by the Secretaries of the Kogi State chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Olakunle Faniyi, Trade Union Congress, Comrade James Kolawole and Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, Comrade Isa Abubakar, the organised labour described Governor Bello’s statement as very untrue and the height of man’s inhumanity to man.

The union also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to mandate a fact-finding mission to Kogi State in order to ascertain the true situation of workers in the state.

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“Labour is currently taking census of civil servants that died as a result of the ill-fated screening exercise of Governor Bello and the refusal of his government to pay even those it claimed to have adjudged authentic civil servants”, the statement added.

The Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello had while briefing  journalists on Monday in Abuja shortly after his meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, said all backlogs of salaries he met when he resumed office has been cleared while the real  civil servants in the state are reporting to work.

“Those workers that are on strike are political civil servants, the real civil servants are coming to work.

“We are trying our best to keep up with the payment of salaries.

“There is no denying the fact that the economy is biting hard everywhere and you will recall that I met four months’ salary backlog, I cleared it and today we are keeping up to date,” he said.

“We are owing August and September as we speak.

“We are up to date in terms of salaries and those that come to work we shall pay them and those that don’t come to work, the no work no pay shall surely apply,” he said.