No fewer than 500 Gombe State Government workers on Tuesday decried delays in the payment of their December salaries despite approval from the treasury.
The workers’ spokesperson, Saminu Bulus, who spoke in an interview with our correspondent at Access Bank premises in Gombe, said the festive period had remained sour for them as they were unable to provide food for their families.
Our correspondent reports that government has paid workers’ salaries since 23rd of December without the affected number.
Bulus, who blamed the situation on poor banking processes, noted that all the affected workers are customers of Diamond–Access Bank, urging the bank to act swiftly to alleviate their suffering.
He said, “More than 500 of us are affected by this issue and it’s a pity that Access Bank has failed to attend to us. Many of us don’t have money for transportation to protest here. Our salaries have been paid by the governor into our Diamond–Access accounts, but we didn’t get our alerts. We went to the treasury, but we were told that the issue is from the bank.
“My brother, we celebrated this Christmas without salary. In a few days, we are expected to enter the New Year on an empty stomach. It’s not like we have issues with thumbprints.”
Bulus appealed to Governor Muhammadu Yahaya to intervene, noting that life has become increasingly difficult for civil servants.
He said, “I want the governor to come to our aid. We don’t know where the problem is coming from; the bank has blamed the treasury and the treasury has blamed the bank. We don’t have anything to merry with. Imagine men and women who can’t provide for their families. This is not the first time this is happening. Last month, before we received our pay, it was already the 5th of the new month, whereas the governor had already paid,” he added.
However, the bank declined comments on the reasons for the delay, directing our correspondent to its headquarters.
Reacting via telephoneinterview, Gombe State Head of Civil Service, Ahmed Abdullahi, urged the workers to channel their grievances to their union, promising to resolve the delay.
“I will investigate and know why. What i know is that government has released all salaries; the issue is with the bank, as we don’t have such complaints with other commercial banks. I will find out the issues they are having,” he added.
