Bayelsa State workers today, Tuesday, January 28, 2020, shut down the Treasury Building, Yenagoa, to protest the non-implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage and non-payment of December salary of some workers in the state.

The workers shunned entreaties from Governor Dickson’s emissary and booed the Secretary to Bayelsa Government, Kemela Okara. They alleged that the government reneged on its pledge to implement the new wage by December 2019 and would also do so this month going by indications of January 2020 vouchers sighted by labour leaders.

The workers, who besieged the treasury building to stall withdrawal of cash by the outgoing government, sang solidarity songs such as “We no go gree . . . enough is enough, pay us our January salary with the new minimum wage implementation.”

Addressing the crowd, Okara, whose speech was disrupted by shouts of ‘No!’, assured workers that their January salary would be paid with the new minimum wage adjustments next week.

He said what some workers were not paid December salary because there was a garnishee order by the court on some government accounts but assured that the order has been vacated.

Okara said: “The government has sent me to tell you people that your salary for January will be paid next week, I can assure you.

“The current government is committed in implementing the new minimum wage for Bayelsa state workers.

“We have less than three weeks to go, we can say let the next government take over the implementation of new minimum wage, but we still went ahead implementing it,” Okara said.

Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Bayelsa, Mr John Ndiomu, said without guarantee of the implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage this month, the workers would not leave the gate of the Treasury building.

“Political appointees have paid themselves, so why is the workers own different, because in December, some were paid while others didn’t get salaries.

“All we are asking for now is pay us the January salary with the minimum wage template, I am sure the address of the SSG, did not go down well and unacceptable to most of us here.

“If workers are ready to stay here, then so be it nobody should use force on Bayelsa workers, if they try it tomorrow more will join us,” he said.

The Joint Negotiating Council Chairman, Mr Olomo Dimie, said it was regrettable that government is paying political appointees several allowances and executing ongoing projects, but workers are left behind to suffer. He vowed that no further payments would be allowed until workers are paid.

According to Dimie, labour had taken steps to stop cash withdrawals of all sorts from the treasury to compel the government to heed the cry of workers.

He called on the Governor Seriake Dickson-led administration to see to the welfare of workers and pay them before his tenure elapses on February 14.

The Chairman said his position is for the governor to pay them the new minimum wage that he has already promised to pay them.

Update news