NLC gives Niger State Govt. 24 hours to refund Contributory Health Care Scheme to workers
The Niger State Governor Rt. Hon. Umar Mohammed Bago on Wednesday in Minna, announced the donation of N5million to the organized labour in the state to take care of its members transportation from the 25 local government areas of the state to the labour day celebration.
Also in the same vein, the speaker of the state house of assembly, Rt. Hon. Abdulmalik Sarkindaji donated N2.5milliin to the labour union in the 25 local government areas of the state to cushion the effect of the current fuel scarcity.
The governor who was represented at the occasion by the Head of Service, Alhaji Salisu Abubakar told the organized labour in the state that the government is working on the increment of salary to workers in the state including an improved general welfare.
He nonetheless appealed to the labour union to show some understanding with the government as it work out strategies to address some of the demands of the NLC in the state.
In his good will message, the speaker said the mood of the Nation calls for urgent attention to the welfare of the civil servants in the country, saying that “I can see that the NLC in the state is not smiling, that shows that all is not well”.
While announcing a N2.5million donation to the organized labour, the speaker assured them the state government is not relenting on its efforts to address their welfare, especially with the current economic situation in the country.
Sarkindaji described the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) as great partners in progress, stressing that there will surely be light at the end of the tunnel.
Earlier the Chairman of the organized labour in the state Comrade Idrees Abdulkarerm Lafene has given the state government 24 hours within which to begin the process for the immediate refund the money deducted the state civil servants as Contributory Health Care Scheme.
The Contributory Health Care Scheme was introduced by the immediate past governor of the state Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello where two percent of civil servants salary was being deducted.
Almost six years after the scheme was started, no civil servant in the has benefited from it as majority of the civil servants have keyed into the National Health Insurance Scheme.
The NLC described the state health care scheme as a huge failure and therefore asked the state government to immediately refund all the money that has been deducted from the civil servants in the state.
Comrade Idrees Lafene warned that failure by the government to refund Contributory Health Care Scheme to the civil servants, the organized labour will ground the state indefinitely.
