TRUE to its threat, the Oyo State government, on Wednesday, opened
attendance registers in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs)
in the state to enable it to collate the names of workers who failed to
report for duty.
The state government, on Tuesday threatened to sanction workers who
refused to report at their duty posts and enforce the ‘no work no pay’
rule.
But in an apparent disregard for the warning by government, workers
stayed away from work. The government secretariat wore a ghost look from
morning till the close of work on Wednesday.
A very a few number of workers who ignored the directive from the
labour unions and showed up at the secretariat were beaten and chased
away by spies from the unions, who sneaked into the secretariat to
monitor the level of compliance.
Meanwhile, the state Local Government Service Commission has also
directed the directors of personnel management (DPMs) to open registers
in their respective councils and ensure workers clock in and out every
day.
A release signed by the chairman of the commission, Chief Lasisi
Ayankojo, said members of the commission would be going round to monitor
compliance with the directive, while assuring workers of their safety
at their duty posts.
In a reaction, the chairman of the state Public Service Joint
Negotiating Council, Nurudeen Arowolo, chided the decision of the
government, saying it was a panicky measure to cow workers into
submission.
He said it was sad that a democratically elected government was
threatening workers for embarking on a legitimate strike, stressing that
the workers would not submit to government’s intimidation.
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr Adedeji Adelabu,
has described as completely untrue, the statement being circulated by
labour unions that the state government received N11.8 billion
allocation in February.
Mr Adelabu, who made the clarification during an interview in Splash
FM, on Wednesday, said what the state got as allocation was N2.7 billion
and asked anyone who doubted the figure to verify from the Federal
Ministry of Finance in Abuja.
He said about N6 billion, representing monthly allocation, accrued to
the state and all the 33 local governments in February, adding that it
was regrettable that the labour unions, whose members should know
better, were the ones cooking up figures from what was public knowledge.
The commissioner reiterated that the minimum wage table agreed with
the labour would mop up 92 per cent of total revenue, since the
internally generated revenue (IGR) of the state could only cover 26 per
cent of the total expenditure, adding that only N70 per person would be
available to cater for the remaining 99 per cent of the state population
after workers’ salaries were paid.
“When we came in last year, the least paid worker was receiving
N9,400 per month. The governor felt this was too low and increased it to
N13,000 minimum and now in February, it has gone up to N19,987. The
implementation of the new wage was done across board for all the
workers,” he said.
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