By Amos Okioma
The labour movement in Bayelsa has challenged the state government to produce evidence that the 4,204 workers in its local government system whose salaries were withheld are actually involved in payroll fraud.
It could be recalled that the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa, Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd), had on November 8, announced that the state had withheld the payment of October 2017 salary of workers suspected to be involved in payroll irregularities.
The affected workers were advised to appear before a judicial panel on payroll fraud with their original service records and credentials for authentication before they could collect their salaries.
Reacting to the development, the Bayelsa Chairman of NLC, Mr John Ndiomu, said that the labour leaders in the various affiliated unions in the state and local governments were unaware of the criteria used in compiling the list.
“The NLC was neither consulted nor informed of the development; the state should provide proof so that it will not be seen as allegations geared towards victimisation,” he said.
The NLC chairman said that the union would not tolerate disengagement of workers without a verifiable evidence based system.
Ndiomu said that the NLC in the state would not support illegality, adding that if the 4,204 workers were involved in payroll fraud, the government should be able to bring them to book with proof or swiftly remit their salaries.
“The report I got from the committee set up by state government shows that some that have retired are still receiving salaries, while some are collecting salaries from two to three local governments.
“According to the report, these are the people that government needed to fish out and punish, but the innocent ones should be paid,” Ndiomu said.
Similarly, Mr Tari Dounana, the Bayelsa Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC), stressed the need for a verifiable proof of the allegations levelled against the workers.
“We are not saying, as workers, we should indulge in fraud. There are unions in all the local government areas, they should have carried them along so that they will know the illegality their members are committing before taking such an action,” he said.
Dounana said that the labour leaders in the state were expecting the government to clear the salary backlog of four and half months owed to the workforce.
Reacting to the allegations of excluding labour leaders in the reform process, Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson, dismissed the claims as a ploy to blackmail the state government to drop the plan.
“We are determined and there is no going back, we had representatives of National Union of Local Government Employees in the committee and there are records of their attendance, we must carry the reform to its logical conclusions and clean up the payroll,” he said.