Unpaid salaries: PDP set to give out bags of rice to Kogi workers

The Kogi State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has concluded arrangement to send some bags of rice to help workers cushion the effects non-payment of salary in Kogi state.

The gesture is coming few days after some lawmakers in the National Assembly led by Senator Dino Melaye donated over 1200 bags rice to civil servants in the State.

PDP state publicity secretary, Mr Bode Ogunmola disclosed this in a statement made available to the Media on Saturday.

The opposition party while commiserating with the workers in the state and the immediate family of late Edward Soje, who recently committed suicide, described it as unfortunate.

In a condolence message to the family, the party said “Soje, a Director with the Teaching Service Commission, TSC, was victim of government’s policy of non-payment of salaries.

“It is sad that rather than admitting it’s cross failure and abysmal policy direction, government has elected to dance on Soje’s grave. In Africa we value life so much, that we refrain from speaking ill of the dead.

“The only thing his employers has done is to accuse him of falsifying his age and to arrogantly declare that Soje continue to receive his pay till December 2016.

“Whether Soje was owed 8 months as claimed by his employer or 11 months as reported in the media or even 21 months as is the case of many workers, the rock bottom truth is that he was frustrated and decided to end it all.

“We call on the Governor Yahaya Bello’s administration to put a human face on its policies and pay all workers their entitlements without further delays.

“Our fear is, there may be other Soje’s out there who may be planning to end it all because of lack of payment of salaries. Governor Bello should not allow this painful death to be in vain”.

Ogunmola advised civil servants not to contemplate suicide as a way of escaping the present economic challenges and cluelessness in the state.