Security Is More Important To Us Than Your Salaries  – Niger Govt Tells  Labour 

The Niger State government has frowned at  the insistence of the State  branch of the  Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for  demanding their 100 percent salaries, adding  that security of the state was more important than the salaries of civil servants. 

This was implied by the state Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Malam Mohammed Sani Idris who stated that the government will not mortgage the security of the state at the expense of salary payment.

Idris,  who spoke to newsmen in Minna declared that the government maintains its position  that it would not be able to pay the workers 100percent of their salaries,  emphasizing that the reality on the ground was that the administration of Governor Abubakar Sani  Bello cannot compromise the fight against banditry to pay salaries. 

Explaining the financial status of the government, he said, “the state government received a total of N4.2 billions  from FAAC for October as against the over N5 billion it normally gets.

“Out of this amount, workers salaries will gulp N2.9billion, pension and gratuities will gulp N500million and the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) will gulp N200million,  leaving next to nothing for other segments, especially security.

” Honestly, the government cannot forgo security and pay salaries alone, we can not relent on our ongoing onslaught against banditry, this inconveniences  for workers is temporary, they need to understand this”, he said. 

Idris stated further that this trying period was the time for all stakeholders in the State to join in the collective effort in saving the State from financial bankruptcy. 

“We are in a period of crisis which is not peculiar to Niger State alone, worldwide the reality is there,  from the COVID-19 pandemic as we were exiting it signalled this recession.

” The truth is that Nigeria is not left out of this recession, Niger state as a unit is not immuned, that is why the government is appealing for workers understanding in the payment of percentage salaries in November “

He noted that the state was affected with so  many security challenges and need a lot of resources to combat it adding that the state government has been collaborating with the Chief of Army Staff ( COAS) and his Airforce counterpart to tackle the security challenges head-on in the last few months