From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
The South-South chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Bolum Martin Nwachukwu has applauded the contributions of the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration to the welfare of workers in the state. Bolum in this interview, spoke on various issues.
There have been demonstrations, petitions upon petitions of non-payment of pensions by Governor Okowa-led administration. As a labour leader, we would like you to throw more light on this matter.
Well, I am surprised when they talk of non-payment of pensions in Delta State. In addition, I am also the South-South chairman of both TUC and ASCSN as well as being a representative of workers in the Pensions Fund Management Committee. So, I think I am an authority on this. What I am going to say is based on what I know and they are verifiable. I am surprised at the campaigns going on; people protesting and saying that Delta State Government is not paying pensions. But the truth is very far from the positions that are in the public. Based on that, I would want to tell you that when this government took over in 2015, we had a pension administration backlog of about N95 billion. With this N95 billion, suffice it to say that the former administration paid only N7 billion as pensions throughout their time. This government came and we engaged them immediately. And from that time till date, Governor Okowa has expended over N50 billion and people say they are not paying pensions. I want to put it on record here that in the state pensions scheme where I work as a representative of workers and a member of the Funds Management Committee, I would tell you that as at the end of December 2022, every retired person in Delta State on the contributory scheme that is between level 1 – 6 have been paid up to December 2022. Also for levels 7 and above, the bureau has paid up to June 2020, not minding the liabilities that were met. This is why almost N50 billion has been expended. So, we have just between July 2020 to December 2022 to offset. That is why you don’t see people in the state pension scheme protesting. But I will also tell you that people think that pensions are just for persons who are retired. Pension is beyond that. For those of us who are still working, government contributes 10 percent every month towards our pensions. So, we are paid pensions every month such that when we retire, we can assess our retirement savings account. While we the workers contribute 7.5 percent, government is contributing 10 percent. And as it stands today till December 2022, Okowa’s government is not owing workers a dime. They have paid up to date their own counterpart 10 percent. So, pension is being paid. And that amounts to about N400 million every month. Then, for those who have retired, the accrued rights that is where the issue is. Okowa government releases N500 million every month to offset the accrued right of retired pensioners. That is why we have been able to pay up to June 2022 for levels 7 and above, and for levels 1 – 6, they have been paid up to December 2022 because of these releases. Aside from this monthly releases which comes about N900 million every month, there have been different interventions. When there is a windfall, there was a time some money was refunded to states, they intervened with one billion; another two billion. But between September and November 2022, Governor Okowa has released N5 billion to the state pension scheme to enable the state offset the backlog which has brought us to where we are today. And by the special grace of God, I know that before he leaves in May, he would have offset everything that has to do with pension arrears. There is a committee headed by the Head of Service to look at ways of clearing the pension arrears. And they have been talking with Pencom to see how we can do it. He is determined on doing this.
Then you may ask me, why the protests? Who are those protesting? It is unfortunate that the people they carry to protest are the local government retirees. People would say whether local government or state, they are all workers in Delta State. I want to ask a simple question, do we, the state workers protest or call Buhari for our salaries? Or pensions? No. We have three tiers of government: federal, state and local government. It is he who employs workers that pays salaries. Is that not so? And he who pays salaries pays pension. But this notwithstanding, the fact that it is the duty of the local government chairmen who employed these primary school teachers, in case you don’t know, they were not employed by the state government. Ask those pretending, to show their employment letters, it was signed by the local government chairman. We have what we call Education Authorities in all the 25 local government areas. They do the employment of teachers. The Local Government staff is employed by the local government themselves through the Local Government Service Commission. None of these is an agency of the state government. Remember there’s autonomy for the local government; their money goes straight from federal to them. And it is their responsibility to pay their retirees. This notwithstanding, the state government did not just abandon them to their fate. The same Governor Okowa they are protesting against releases N500 million to the Local Government Pensions Bureau to support them with the payment of their pensions aside from the money they get from their JAAC which is not enough to pay pensions. Between September and November 2022, Governor Okowa has released N5 billion. The same thing he did to the state government, he did to the local government as a support for the Local Government Pensions Bureau. Many of those people protesting, I saw one woman on television saying she is a retired Head Teacher; that Governor Okowa has refused to pay her. And that woman had been paid. The last time they went on protest, we asked that woman, ‘why are you protesting? Have you not been paid? She said, “yes, she has been paid but she’s protesting because of others. Why are we lying? The problem is that we are turning this campaign thing to mean something else. Where it pains me as a labour leader is that they are trying to use the workers as puns in their political game which is not acceptable. And that is why we as labour leaders must protect our end. We must speak the truth so that people will know that we don’t have problem with our government. Politicians should do their politics and campaign with issues and not using the workers. The workers should not be mis-informed or misled. The truth is that as it stands today, Governor Okowa’s administration has done wonderfully well for the workers; releasing money for payment of pensions; he has made it a priority. He assured us when he was coming in of the things he must do before he became governor; he must pay salaries as at when due which he did. Our arrears have been paid; workers welfare he has built Secretariat for us; he has been making sure that workers are well taken care of. And the issue of pension he has taken it head long. In 2011, there was a review of the accrued rights. Minimum wage was reviewed from N7,500 to N18,000. The previous government did not do anything about it. They were still paying pensions on N7,500. When Okowa came, we got an approved valuer to review the accrued rights to meet up with the new minimum wage and the money increased. When Okowa came, he set up a committee and we looked at it and additional pension liability of N16 billion came in from there. This is what Okowa is still paying. If we had left it at the N7,500, maybe Okowa would have finished paying by now. But what he is still paying now and working seriously to offset with even the additional one; that’s why we talk of harmonization. I as a labour leader went to Exco on this pensions matter. He invited myself, the NLC chairman and other labour leaders to Exco and we went to defend our position and Exco approved the harmonization which he has started paying. Those that have been paid earlier are now receiving the second leg of their pensions through their harmonization. The N500 million that comes every month, N200 million goes to new people who have not been paid while N300 goes to the old. Everything that comes from intervention (the N1 billion, N2 billion, N5 billion as the case may be) goes straight to those who have not been paid at all. That’s what the bureau has been doing. And they have been doing it on first come, first served basis. So, all senior persons who have submitted their documents to the bureau are being paid as at when due. And we are in June 2020 as at date. And we hope that by May 2023, he has been able to offset it because Okowa is doing everything to see that we get fund to offset this. I think the man has tried.
Ask me, politics aside, if the workers want to be very sincere, I think Okowa deserves our votes because he has done well for workers of Delta State and we are solidly behind him. Those who are using pension to campaign against him do not have facts and figures and that is why we have to put the records straight.
As a labour leader, what have you done to meet with local government chairmen; like giving them ultimatum that the pensioners should be paid?
I would tell you this, NULGE is a member of NLC. NULGE goes to JAAC meetings every month. We have even gone to the governor. I must tell you that even the salaries that are paid to local governments, the state government still intervene. That is why they no longer owe local government salaries in Delta State. I was there when we met with the governor and appealed to the governor when minimum wage was approved; state government paid state workers; local governments were not paid. After the discussions with the governor, he now said that in that case, he was going to give 50 percent of the cost of minimum wage for local government workers to enable the local governments raise the remaining 50 percent to pay their staff minimum wage. Till date, local government is only using the 50 percent that Governor Okowa has given them to pay every other month their minimum wage. They have not been able to do their own beat of it. I don’t know what is wrong; I am not in the Local Government system but I think they should look into their system.
What has the NLC done in terms of meeting the Local Government chairmen? These interventions from the governor, the chairmen might be squandering the money.
Well, I don’t know but I would want to put some records straight. The local government chairmen are politicians and not under any labour center; they are ALGON. And NULGE is under the NLC. And I know we have been talking like organized labour with them; we have even gone to the governor to look for intervention; we have even presented issues before JAAC, and NULGE has been working with them to see how these things are done.
Why don’t they direct their protests to Local Government? Why the state?
These protests are political. I must be very frank with you. Instead of people protesting to the local government chairmen who gave them employment; whose duty it is to pay them pensions, they come out to protest in front of Government House and carry placard with inscriptions “Okowa Pay me my money”. Okowa is not owing any of them, yet Okowa is supporting to make sure they are paid because he has human feelings. I think we should be thanking him instead of castigating him. The previous governments never did what he did. If the government before him did half of what he did, he would have cleared the pensions liability by now. We owed a lot before he came in but now what is being owed is small. Everyday, Local Government teachers are being paid. Go to the bureau, you can verify it. Go to the pensions bureau (state and Local government) at the Secretariat, they would tell you the same thing. These are facts and figures that are there for you to see. They are being paid every month; they may not have cleared it because it’s going to take time because it accumulated over a long time. But the man is making frantic efforts to clear it even before he leaves in May 2023. I think we should acknowledge him; we should thank him instead of castigating him.
I think this Pension thing that the opposition is using as a campaign tool is a very weak tool because it’s either they don’t have facts about it or they are whipping up sentiments. And that is why it’s good that those of us who know what is going on should speak up so that people are not misled. We should not mislead people. If you want to campaign, do that with developmental issues.
The organised labour which is NLC and TUC in Delta State has been accused of compromising with the state government…
… How? Do you need to compromise with somebody who is already doing well? We are not owed salaries; allowances are paid; our pension arrears were cleared; whatever we asked for that is due us he gives us. So, what is the compromise we need? As I am talking to you now, I am the first TUC chairman who has served out my first tenure, this is my second tenure; I don’t have official vehicle as TUC state chairman because we never asked for. My predecessors had; government gave them vehicles. I and the NLC chairman, we don’t have. Any time we go to the governor, we don’t ask for personal things; we only ask for that of the workers and he has always obliged us. He has a listening ear. We don’t go cap in hand asking for favours instead we ask for the welfare of the workers. And I think the workers in Delta State are not faring badly at all. We meet with other states and we know what their problems are but we don’t have such here. Look at the new Secretariat he built for us, very conducive. He never owes us salaries even during COVID-19 when states were paying percentage and owing salaries, Delta State Government didn’t owe us. I mean we should acknowledge him.
The same pensioners say you as the labour leader defend the government in the media. Have you found time to meet with them, one on one and address this issue?
We have, severally. That is why you see the pensioners from the state where we have jurisdiction hardly protest because we dialogue with them all the time. What we usually do in the state is that we invite them, they come to the meeting, we meet with them and they tell us what their problems are, we take it to the governor and the governor responds. They are still our members whether retired or not retired. Pensioners union is under NLC. So, they are still our members and members do not stop at those who are just working. Whether you are retired or not, we take their issues to the governor and he has always responded. So, those protesting are from the Local Government but if people want to be sincere, they are the same set of people all the time, yet things are going on and they are not acknowledging it. That is political.
Are they being used by the opposition?
That is what you have said and that is what we think, I must tell you. That is our thinking because you cannot be saying the same thing at the same time; meanwhile, the facts are there and nobody is looking at the facts. I don’t know why those who carry on with Governor Okowa’s campaign have refused to talk about it. Maybe, they don’t have the facts or maybe they don’t want to join issues with them. But where it is touching us as labour leaders is that our people are being used as puns. Leave us alone, do your campaign, we know who to support. The man who is paying our salaries as at when due; the man who pays our pensions; the man who gave us good Secretariat, the man who is attending to our issues and paid us our promotion arrears when he was not even the one that accumulated it, the man who listens to us anytime we cry out to him is the man we are supporting; as simple as that. You don’t need to use us as puns to bring one or two of us, give them something and say they should come and say that the man is not doing well when we know he’s doing well. For me as a labour leader, I will encourage Delta State workers to support whoever they want to support. But please remember that Governor Okowa deserves our votes from what he has done for us.
How will you now advise the pensioners that are being used?
My advice to them is to go home. Our people used to say ‘Thank the man who is doing well for you and he will do more.’ Instead of allowing yourselves to be used, why not come out and say ‘Governor Okowa, we thank you for the one you have done, please do more for us.’ He will do more. I know him, he has always done more and he is determined to always do more whether they thank him or not. He has human feeling.