There was a mild drama at the Government House, Lokoja on Wednesday afternoon when the Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Onuh Edoka told Governor Yahaya Bello to his face that he was practically not doing anything to reduce the sufferings of workers in the state whom he said were dying in dozens due to the non-payment of salaries.
The NLC chairman said he was surprised when the governor openly lied on a national television that he was not owing workers a dime and stressed that there were categories of workers that were currently being owed for 39 months, while some were owed between 7- 23 months.
In his words, “let me put the records straight. The former governor, Captain Idris Ichalla Wada spent 48 months in office and he paid 45 months salaries leaving the allocation of December 2015 and January 2016 for your administration to access.
“Nothing is farther from the truth than this. The truth is that your administration is hugely indebted to Kogi workers and you should find a means to defray it rather than lying to the public,” he advised.
But in his response, the governor who suddenly changed his countenance while the labour leader was delivering his address, said the choice of words of the labour leader was too harsh, indicting and uncomplimentary, insisting that Kogi State was by far better than some states that were not paying salaries.
He called on the leadership of the organised labour to support his administration for the dividend of democracy.