According to the Edo branch of the Nigeria Union of Local Administration Employees (NULGE), the state government has not yet paid local government employees for wage arrears that range from two to 17 months.
In a statement released on Friday in Benin by Olumuyiwa Cole, Secretary of NULGE, Edo Chapter, NULGE criticised the government's stance about the payment of wage arrears to local government employees.
In spite of the fact that we might not be able to object to the payment of salaries to state employees, NULGE stated that the Edo government owes councils money.
“We frown at the position of government on the subject matter as posited by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Project that even LGA workers are not owed any salaries.”
The statement said, “we acknowledge the fact that Local Governments are responsible for the payment of workers under them.
“But it is a fact that the funds/account from where they are paid is managed by the state government and it is from what is allocated to each local government that salaries are paid”.
The union stated further that the Internally Generated Revenue sources where Local Government could have augumented have been taken over by the state government.
“This is to state the obvious fact that the state government, irrespective of being a separate tier of government, is liable for the arrears of salaries owed local government workers.”
Meanwhile, Edo Government had in statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Projects, Mr Crusoe Osagie, criticised a report rating Edo among the states in salary indebtedness to workers.
“We hereby debunk the misleading media report by a civic-tech organization, that the Edo Government is owing workers six months’ salaries. The report is not only false and mischievous, it is disingenuous in its intentions.
“The state Government does not owe state workers salaries. On the contrary, Edo is the first state to increase the minimum wage to N40,000 above the nationally approved N30,000. It has also been consistent in paying the new wage to workers.”