The radio station which is located in Yola, the state capital, has been running on funds contributed by the staff members who have yet to be paid, he said.
A worker at Pulaaku FM, a radio station owned by Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa, the Lamido of Adamawa in Adamawa State has alleged that the company had not paid staff members for eleven months.
The radio station which is located in Yola, the state capital, has been running on funds contributed by the staff members who have yet to be paid, he said.
According to a staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Lamido might not be aware of the plights of the workers at the radio station due to the many protocols involved before the money gets to the employees.
The source said there are reports that people close to the Lamido, who want the dismissal of the General Manager of the station are behind the delay in payment of salaries.
The source said, “The Lamido of Adamawa, Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa, who is also the Grand Patron of Tabital Pulaaku International, has a Fulfude radio station that they call Pulaaku FM, Yola.
”I work at that radio station, we have not been paid for the past 11 months. Now we are in the 12th month. The issue has been on for a while. We wanted to protest but the management refused to allow us to act for the sake of Lamido's reputation. The radio station was launched in 2017.
“Barkindo is the grand patron of Fulani all over the world. He is one of the kingmakers in the state.
“We are working but not getting paid and no one gave an explanation for anything. What we were told is that the delay in payment is a result of a misunderstanding between the management and some people close to the Lamido. We learned that those who are close to the Lamido want the Lamido to sack the General Manager of the radio station because they don't want him there.
“Now, the General Manager is making efforts, he has gone through some people who are very close to the Lamido even via the board of directors and board of trustees but they are all scared of the Lamido.
”We are confused because some people are saying the Lamido might not be aware we have not been paid and the Lamido usually releases our salaries at the end of every month so we don't know what has been happening for the past 11 months. Some have said he is probably releasing the money and maybe some people close to him are taking the money.
“What we have heard is that the accountant has connived with the wife of the Lamido and Personal Assistant to the Lamido to hoard the money every month, that's an allegation though. The PA is the Sadaruwa (someone who connects others) to the Lamido
“The management has even contacted the NUJ (Nigerian Union if Journalists) of the state chapter but nothing has been done so it seems those people are stopping the NUJ from taking action on that.
”Many of the staff members, their children have been sent out of school. As at the last time we were paid, we didn't suspect anything, we got our normal pay though we tried hard to make them pay us into a bank account but they insisted on paying us cash. They've always paid cash. We even suspected something fishy because, from reports, the amount of money they pay us is not what we are supposed to be paid.
“We had a staff member whose house was burnt down because of electrical faults, that man could not get anything from that fire except his family. We had to contribute the money for him to rent another house.
“Some of the staff members too whose wives are admitted at the hospital tried to get loans from the company pending the time salary would come but they couldn't get anything because the company is not even getting anything from commercial (ventures). We use our money to buy diesel for the station to operate; we use our money to go and source for news and fuel the car, things are not going well at all.
“Our Director of Programmes resigned 5 months ago. Even now, many people are planning to resign any moment from now. Some are not even coming to the station at all.”