Speaking to SaharaReporters, some of the aggrieved NPC staff members said since they were employed with an employment letter issued to them on August 15, 2022, some of them have been receiving salaries, arrears and palliatives while at least 65 of them are yet to receive any salary or other entitlements till date.
No fewer than 65 staff members of the National Population Commission (NPC) employed in August 2022 have lamented that they have not been paid their one year and five months salaries, arrears and palliatives since they were recruited by the commission.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, some of the aggrieved NPC staff members said since they were employed with an employment letter issued to them on August 15, 2022, some of them have been receiving salaries, arrears and palliatives while at least 65 of them are yet to receive any salary or other entitlements till date.
One of the aggrieved staff members deployed to Kebbi State who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation said, “The NPC employed us since August 2022, we assumed office in October 2022 and did our IPPIS (Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System) capturing in December 2022, but it is now one year and five months, yet NPC/IPPIS have not paid us salary.”
Another affected staff member from Kano State said, “We are about 65 yet to receive salary. Others are receiving salaries since May last year, 2023 but we, no single one kobo.”
Another affected staff said, “Since we were employed, two years no salary. IPPIS complained about fingerprint failure and we went to Abuja and did it last year on December 27.
“They promised to pay all of us our January salary for the first time but they paid salaries yesterday and still none among us received salary. We are seriously very tired.”
They had lamented that Kano State alone has more than 10 new staff members recruited in August 2022 but only four of them have received salaries while others have not received theirs.
When contacted, Ismaila Labaran, Personal Assistant to the NPC Chairman, said that he was not in a position to speak on the matter.
However, a senior staff member of the Commission, told SaharaReporters that during biometric data capturing of the staff, the fingerprints of some workers were not properly captured.
But the affected workers who spoke with SaharaReporters insisted that they had gone to Abuja on December 27 and rectified the biometric data capturing issues, stressing that no explanation has been given to them on why they are still yet to receive their salaries, arrears and palliative after one year and five months of their employment.
They lamented that many of them no longer afford to feed or travel to their place of origin to see their families as they have nothing, noting that the economic reality of Nigeria with increasing hardship has placed them on a more dangerous hunger path.