The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Tuesday, chided the former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, over a statement credited to him that governors should sack civil servants to resolve the irregular salaries payment crisis, describing the call as “absurd”.
In a statement, factional NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said Okupe’s argument that the governors should sack their workers because “virtually all state governments in the country have over-bloated civil service” was “jaundiced”.
Citing the example of Ogun State, Okupe claimed that the state was receiving N2 billion monthly from the federation account between 2008 and 2009, but was paying out about N1.8 billion as staff salaries, wages and overhead costs to civil servants during the period, a situation he notes makes no sense.
Wabba, however, dismissed Okupe’s figures as “political statistics” that are neither good for his health nor the health of those with whom he seeks to impress.
The NLC president said since he believed in the equitable distribution of the nation’s wealth, he would not subscribe to an arrangement where 10 percent corner 90 percent of a state’s resources.
Wabba urged Okupe to conduct a forensic audit of Ogun state’s pay to civil servants, contractors and politicians as well as the cost of running government houses.
According to Wabba, for the NLC staff salaries and allowances were not the reason(s) the economy of the states were in shambles, pointing out that the Congress believed serial corruption in the states was responsible.
