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By Amos Okioma, Yenagoa
Senior Staff of the Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, Ekowe in Bayelsa State have taken to the streets to protest non-payment of salary.
The protesters, who converged under the auspices of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics, lamented that they were being paid only eighty percent of their salaries since the year 2014.
Staffers of the institution are appealing to the Presidency, the federal ministries of Education, Labour and Finance to come to their rescue.
The protesting members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP), Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas Ekowe accompanied by some national officers of the union defied the rains to register their grievances at the liaison office of the institution in Yenagoa.
Rising from an emergency congress, they pointed out that staffers of the institution had been on a salary shortfall of eighty percent since 2014.
They noted that despite the approval of two hundred million, out of the over four hundred and ninety-seven million Naira, by the Presidential Initiative for Continuous Audit, to capture sixteen out of the outstanding number of months, they had yet to receive salary payments especially for the months of September and October this year.
Chairman of SSANIP in the institution, Mr. Charles Willabo said workers were undergoing untold hardships owing to the situation.
Another staff who would not want his name mentioned appealed to the Federal Government and the office of the accountant general to investigate the matter.
A national trustee of the association, Mr. Godwin Ikhide, who represented the national president, Mr. Philip Ogusipe, called on the relevant authorities to ensure that workers were not shortchanged.
SSANIP’s South South zonal secretary, Mr. Mike Ighoseme, said it was unacceptable that money meant for payment of staff salaries were being misappropriated.
The protesters said previous resolutions from meetings with management of the institution relating to reversal of query letters to union officials, recall of sacked workers, reinstatement of the former deputy registrar and others had yet to be implemented.
According to the protesters, the school management had in different messages to the union early October this year assured of its having authority to incur payment to make up for overdraft of salary, while appealing for patience.
The association said they later received another message from management saying money had been raised for October salary, promising to pay last Friday which has yet to be paid, while that of September would be rolled over to subsequent months.
