New Minimum Wage: Why Governors, Not Buhari Are Workers’ Problem

Ahead of the 2019 general election, a former governorship aspirant and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Abia state, Ambassador Chidike Ukauwa has told civil servants in the country to vote out governors who are not paying salaries.

He berated the governors for deliberately foisting hardship on civil servants over their alleged failure to pay salaries, despite huge funds being released to them by the federal government.

Ukauwa who spoke in a chat with us on Saturday exonerated President Muhammadu Buhari in the ongoing industrial strike embarked upon by workers over non-implementation of the new minimum wage.

The APC chieftain, particularly tackled Governor Okezie Ikpeazu-led government in Abia state, over his alleged failure to clear backlogs of salaries arrears owed workers in the state, adding that the government had failed in all facets of governance of the state.

He said, “I think Nigeria as a country has grown far above this kind of situation we are presently in now. The industrial strike is a setback to the country. Sometimes, it baffles me when civil servants embark on strike action when the country has all it takes to take care of the welfare of workers”.

“Today in my state(Abia), the governor does not pay salaries to the state civil servants. It is bad for Abians and Nigerians to be witnessing such an action. The problem is not Mr. President himself. I believe that President Buhari is doing everything possible to make sure Nigeria moves forward.

“We should be questioning the governors in this country, why they cannot pay salaries, despite tranches of funds that were released to them by the federal government. Let me tell you, the governors are the problems we have in Nigeria today. They are stashing away our public funds.

“I want to use this opportunity to call on workers in the country to ensure that those governors who are not performing, who are not paying them salary are not returned in 2019. They should be voted out”