By Amos Aar
THE Benue State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) says it has noticed irregularities in the payment of May and June 2023 salaries by Governor Hyacinth Alia’s administration.
NUT State Chairman, Comrade Levi Terna Akuma, in a phone interview with National Record on Monday said the state wing of the union held an emergency meeting earlier in the day and came up with a communiqué to address issues affecting teachers in the state.
Comrade Akuma lamented that the state government did not consult the NUT on anything and went ahead quietly to deduct their salaries.
“I have been receiving one hundred and forty-three thousand naira (N143,000) on grade level 15 step 1. But they paid me ninety-four thousand naira (94,000) only and I did not understand what happened and the government has not explained anything to us till today,” Akuma said.
The NUT in its communiqué “gave the Benue State Government 48 hours beginning from Tuesday 25th to Wednesday 26th July, 2023 to as a matter of urgency” resolve all its grievances “in the interest of peace and industrial harmony.”
The union threatened to embark on a peaceful protest in all the 23 local government areas of the state should the state government fail to meet their demands within the given time, adding that if the government fails to meet their demands even after the protest, teachers across the state will be left with no other option than to proceed on an indefinite industrial action until their demands granted.
Other grievances by the NUT include removal of promotion and allowances and declaration of 2,500 teachers as ghost workers from which the state government said it has saved of over N1 billion.
Comrade Akuma however said “the list of ghost workers has not been given to us. So, we are demanding to see the list and know those who are not supposed to be on the payroll but are on it. If the people removed from the payroll are our members, what are the reasons for their removal?”.
NUT also asked the state government to issue a circular just as the federal government has done so that people who are not supposed to be on the payroll will leave.
Comrade Akuma recalled that Benue State Attorney General had sometimes back written a letter that workers should not be sacked and as a result, many people did not go and their working on the payroll.
“We are optimistic that since that law has been domesticated at the state level, the circular will vindicate us,” Akuma noted.
