Abia State Government has vowed to pay the salaries of members of the state chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), within 48 hours if the union provides evidence of non payment of Leave Bonus in its consolidated salary.
Addressing Newsmen Journalists at the Government House on the issue, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Ikechukwu accompanied by the Commissioner for Information Prince Okey Kanu, and his Labour & Productivity counterpart, SSA on Labour Relations as well as the Accountant General of the state, said the essence of the brief was to clarify the situation.
“The state government will pay within 48 hours it realises that there is no leave allowance or leave bonus as a component of their consolidated salary,” Barr. Uwanna assured.
Barr. Uwanna recalled that the executive members of the JUSUN had provided a request for payment of leave allowance, of which the office of the Accountant General then requested for the details and how they arrived at the leave allowance, and for them to confirm that they have not earned leave bonuses before now, but they have not provided such details till date.
He explained that the government upon receiving the request discovered through the Office of the Accountant General that part of the components of the consolidated salary being paid to judiciary workers has what is called Leave Bonus, which is also the same thing as the Leave Allowance the union is requesting for.
“So we asked the judiciary to provide us with evidence that there is no component of leave bonus in their salary.
“What we got on the 13th of March was a notice that the government should either pay them or they will proceed on industrial action by midnight on the 15th of March,” Barr. Uwanna stated.
While explaining that the consolidated salary contains everything emolument of the worker, revealed that the JUSUN was requested to provide evidence that its salary does not contain “Leave Bonus”.
He further explained: “Now, consolidated salary is called consolidated because everything is consolidated into one and paid in different installments.
“Sometimes we also look at what happens in other states. Federal government does not pay for leave allowance to JUSUN members in the nation. That is our finding.
“Just like federal government does not pay leave allowance to, for instance, medical doctor or health workers in the federal civil service because of the consolidated scheme.
Speaking on the verification of the Judiciary staff, the Attorney General disclosed that efforts to get them verified have been continuously frustrated by members of the JUSUN, adding that their refusal to submit themselves to staff verification of workers in the state accounts for non payment of pensioners who were staff of the Judiciary prior to their retirement.
“As you may all recall, at the commencement, His Excellency Dr Alex Otti was sworn in, he commenced a verification exercise for all civil servants.
“And in view of the fact that we understand that the judiciary is independent, the judiciary staff were not verified when every other staff was verified.
“We then engaged the judiciary for the purpose of getting a consultant that will conduct a verification exercise for the judiciary.
“Indeed, on the 15th, that same day that they went on strike, was the day that was finally slated for the commencement of the verification exercise.
“And one wonders, is this a coincidence, or was it a well-orchestrated scheme to continue to earn salaries by ghost workers and persons who have questionable credentials?
“JUSUN is aware that His Excellency is one who is always ready and able to pay workers their entitlements, and he has made that claim by paying every other civil servant,” the Attorney General pointed out.
Barrister Uwanna also pleaded: “JUSUN should allow the judiciary to verify its staff so that those pensioners can be paid.
“We have had a lot of engagement, and because of time, time will fail me, to explain the process that we have gone through to ensure that there’s proper verification, so that they can come into a system.
“They’re not going to come into executive system. They are going to come into their own electronic platform.
“Please, I would implore them, once again, not to continue to suffer these pensioners. We are all citizens of this state, and the pensioners are entitled to their payment.
“So let them call off the strike, so that this verification exercise can be done, and these pensioners can start earning what is due them.
Contributing, the Accountant General of Abia state, Deaconess Njum Onyemanam reassured the commitment of Abia state government to making payments of staff and pensioners on or before the 28th of every month and emphasised that the need for the Judiciary to submit its documents to enable it gets its funds accordingly.
“For the judiciary, they need to provide documentation. They need to submit their documentation and go through the payment process to be able to get their lump sum.
“The Accountant General does not handle the payroll of the judiciary. Accountant General does not handle the payroll of the judiciary. The judiciary handles their payroll, and when they come up to make their demands, when they come, raise their payment vouchers, and their payment vouchers go through the process of payment, that is the only time the Accountant General has the legal right to make that pay,” Onyemanam explained.
