Some staff of the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) have cried out, calling on relevant authorities to save their souls over salary arrears running into over 17 months owed them by the Board.

The affected staff numbering over 700 had in a statement to newsmen in Kaduna disclosed that they had fulfilled all conditions requested of them, particularly capturing them on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) for the payment of salary, but to no avail.

They also alleged that some staff, who are more elitist, were selected and paid the salary at the detriment of the embattled staff.

Their statement, titled, “Complaint Against Non-payment of Salary”, was jointly signed by Muhammad Suleiman as the Chairman, Benjamin Ishiaka as the Secretary, and Andulsalam Ibrahim as the Public Relations Officer (P.R.O) of the affected staff group.

However, when contacted, the Information Officer of NBAIS, Muhammad Y. Sambo confirmed the issue of salary arrears, saying, “,The Board has no reason to withhold any staff salary if government releases it”.

The statement by the affected staff read in part, “We were employed since January 2021 by the National Board for Arabic & Islamic studies (NBAIS). And we were adequately captured into the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) on December 2021 and it is very unfortunate to this day only few persons who constitutes about 30% of employed staff received their salary, while the remaining 70% were left with their fate hanging in the air and a backlog of 17 months of outstanding salary .

“This has brought untold hardships and great damage to us and our families, we lost the job we were managing to sustain our selves, thinking a better opportunity has come when we took appointment with NBAIS.

“At some points in time, we were asked by Human Resources Department to submit a copy of the appointment letter and IPPIS slip for payment against the month of August 2021 which did not materialise and since then, things have become stagnant. No salary or any other information from the Board.

“However, after careful consultation and investigation, we were able to see an approval letter from the president and the ministry of education for our recruitment, upon mounting pressure, the HR alleged that our problem is from the budget office not with the Board, like wise we received another opposite information from the budget office which is contradicting.

“It is on this note that we are appealing to the press to kindly investigate the matter to save our souls and to have our salary together with arrears. We fail to see the reason why some ( the elite) were selected and got paid, but we strongly believed that this is the government of renewed hope that an ordinary man in the street shall see better days”. (Saturday Sun)

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