The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has vowed mobilise its members nationwide to resist any attempt by state governors to borrow from pension fund.
It would be recalled that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) is reportedly planning to borrow the sum of N17 trillion from the pension fund for infrastructural development.
A communiqué from the 22nd NGF teleconference meeting said the forum was adopting a proposal by the National Economic Council (NEC) ad hoc committee on leveraging a portion of accumulated pension funds for investment.
It said in addition to borrowing a total sum of N2 trillion for the National Infrastructure Investment Fund, it was aligning with a recent proposal by the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to access N15 trillion funding through InfraCredit at a lower interest rate of five per cent.
The move has been rejected vehemently by the NLC president, Mr. Ayuba Wabba who said at the 47th national executive council meeting of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria in Abuja yesterday that the governors have no authority over the funds.
He revealed that less than five per cent of all the states contribute to the fund.
“We will not agree for governors to dip their fingers into the pension funds. As I speak, less than five per cent of the whole states of the federation are contributing to the fund. The governors cannot reap from where they have not planted any seed.
“Let me sound a note of warning to the government, any day that money is touched, every Nigerian worker will be on the street and will remain there until every kobo is returned. We will protect our hard-earned money. The money belongs to workers. We contributed that money so that when we retire, we will have something to retire to.
“The money is not piled up in one place, but are warehoused in the pension retirement accounts that are operated by the pension fund administrators. So, it is not idling out there. If governors want to borrow money, there are guidelines that have been spelled out on how to borrow to fund infrastructural development. There is always a guarantee by the Federal Government before such action can be taken,” he stated.
Wabba further said only 18 out of the 36 states of the federation are faithfully implementing the new minimum wage.
In Ebonyi State for instance, it was gathered that the implementation of the minimum wage was yet to take off.
The chairman of the state chapter of the NLC, Mr. Ikechukwu Nwafor, is quoted to have said: “Neither the previous N18,000 nor the N30,000 new minimum wage is being implemented in Ebonyi State.
“The state is living in a shadow of itself, because of lies and pseudo promises. This has made everybody to watch the government from afar. No civil servant can tell you that he or she has received the new national minimum wage.
“Here in Ebonyi State, no level one or level six civil servant receives anything different from the paltry sums they have been receiving since 2015. I stand to be challenged and I will prove my point anywhere, anytime,” he said.
Similarly, the Cross River State government has not started implementing the minimum wage.
The state chairman of the NLC, Mr. Monday Ugbodim, said the implementation would start in January.
“Going by the memorandum of understanding that labour signed with the state government in February, the full implementation of the minimum wage will commence in January 2021. What was added to civil servants’ wages was N2,000 and N3,000, depending on the grade level,” he said.
