Civil servants in Ondo State have paralysed government activities at the Governor’s Office in Akure, the Ondo State capital, to protest the non-payment of their accumulated salary arrears.
Chanting solidarity songs, the government workers demanded explanation for the delay in the payment of their arrears and bonuses.
The protesting workers were led by leaders of organised labour, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the state.
Pensioners also joined the protesting workers to lament their “languishing in abject poverty” over the non-payment of their entitlements.
They displayed placards, which had various inscriptions such as ‘Gratituties from 2012 to Date Yet to Be Paid’, ‘Arakurin Akeredolu Should Have Mercy on Pensioners’; ‘The Governor Has Refused to Grant Audience to Pensioners Since He Came on Board’, ‘33% Pension Increase Approved by the FG Since 2014 Yet to Be Implemented’, among others.
SaharaReporters can report that the protesting workers barricaded the routes leading to the Alagbaka Government Office in Akure, and shut down the entrance gates.
However, a government official hinted our correspondent that the state Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, was currently out of the state.
On Monday, the workers had accused the Akeredolu-led government of fixing the Paris Club Refund accruable to the state into a private account.
The workers, through the organised labour leaders, alleged that the fund was deposited in one of the banks in the state in order to yield profit for the state government.
They also accused the state’s Accountant-General of conniving with Akeredolu on paying the funds into a fixed deposit account.
