Date: 2016-12-11

Local government council workers in Kwara State have called on the state government to pay them their eight-months' outstanding salary arrears.

The aggrieved workers spoke during a town hall meeting in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on Saturday, which was organised by the National Orientation Agency in collaboration with Human Development Initiatives.

The NLC Vice-Chairman, Mrs. Asmau Apalnado, called on the state government to pay local government staff, State Universal Basic Education Board workers and pensioners their entitlement arrears from the N75bn the federal government got from overpayment for the Paris Club deductions.

She said the workers and pensioners were facing difficult times as a result.

Reacting, the Kwara State Commissioner for Information. Mr. Babatunde Ajeigbe, said, "We have not gotten the exact money that will be paid to the state or the LG from the Federal Ministry of Finance. It has not furnished us with the details neither has it written a letter to say these are the states that are inclusive and the amount for each state to benefit.

"In any case, there is a joint Accounts and Allocation Committee that is statutorily empowered to take decisions as to how LG funds would be disbursed accordingly. Whenever these funds are available, it would be discussed at the Joint Account Allocation Committee.

"I must point out that the governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, gave the Transition Implementation Committee chairmen a mandate to prioritise the payment of salaries arrears to not only LG staff, but SUBEB and all workers under LG administration. The state government is committed to prioritising salary payment, including arrears to all tiers of staff."

Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of Summit University, Offa, Kwara State, Prof. Hussain Oleyede, has urged the Federal Government to include private universities among the beneficiaries of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.

Oleyede, who spoke in Offa on Saturday on the planned commencement of the academic session in Summit University, said it was discriminatory for private varsities not to be able to access TETFUNDs.

He further stated that private universities contribute to the manpower pool in the country and produce graduates who render their services to the companies that remit money to TETFUND.