The aggrieved workers expressed dismay at the failure of the Tinubu-led administration to pay their wage awards despite the hardship currently being faced by Nigerians following the removal of the fuel subsidy.
Staff of the Defence Industries of Nigeria (DICON) in Kaduna State have threatened a protest following the failure of the President Bola Tinubu-led government to pay the N35,000 wage award promised by the government for six months.
The aggrieved workers expressed dismay at the failure of the Tinubu-led administration to pay their wage awards despite the hardship currently being faced by Nigerians following the removal of the fuel subsidy.
Tinubu, in his October 2023 Independence Day speech, had announced that his administration would pay the sum of N35,000 to active workers and N25,000 to pensioners as wage awards pending the conclusion of negotiations on a new minimum wage.
Though the government commenced the payment to active workers, the scheme was suspended before it took off again in December 2023 after pressure from organised labour.
However, some staff of DICON told SaharaReporters on Tuesday that they had not received payment for any month since the program began in September 2023, while all other civil servants had been paid all of the six months.
They called on the Federal Government to swiftly resolve the issues causing delays in receiving their entitlements, adding that they are exhausted by the financial procedures at DICON, and they may soon reveal their frustration through protest.
"Staff of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) are aggrieved and may soon protest again over the several meeting between the Federal Government and the Nigerian labor Congress, where the Federal Government stated that it has started and completed payment of the N35,000 wage award promised by the government for 6 months.
"Till now, the staff of DICON have not received payment for any month since the program began in September 2023 while all other civil servants have been paid all of the six(6) months.
"We are also worried over the disappearance of their 2019 minimum wage arrears that have been cleared by the federal government. As the believe that their management is presently seeking to gain time so that they can overlap 2024 minimum wage arrears with 2019 arrears, thereby completely misappropriating the staff said allowance.
"We believe in the principles of Justice and fairness that this administration stands for with unwavering faith in Mr president’s anti-corruption crusade and the integrity of his government. We humbly employ you to lend us your assistance in this dire situation. We are hopeful that your intervention would make a world of difference in helping us retrieve our embezzled money from DICON management and restore a sense of financial security to the staff of DICON.
"We called on the Federal Government to swiftly resolve the issues causing delays in receiving our entitlements. We are exhausted by the financial procedures at DICON. And also proffer a lasting solution to the common delay and day-to-day robbery of DICON staff by ensuring that DICON staff are enrolled into the integrated payroll and personnel information system (IPPIS) which most civil servants are on and which also helps the government to ensure that financial welfare of staff are not diverted," one of the staff said.