The ex-staff numbering over 20 who started the demonstrations at 9:30 am overwhelmed security men and practically padlocked the gate threatening to remain there until they are paid.
The protesting ex-workers of the nation’s first communications outfit chanted solidarity songs, displaying placards as a detachment of armed policemen watched carefully. The inscriptions on their placards read: “Corrupt BPE”, “Many have died and some are homeless”, “The N54 billion assigned by government has not been judiciously used”, “Mr. President please for the sake of transformation agenda, order BPE to urgently settle our payment”, “VP and BPE, please pay us our money”, among others.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Mr Charlse Nwosu, a representative of the former NITEL/M-Tel staff explained that out of the N54 billion the President approved for their payment in 2011, some workers were paid while others have still not been paid .
“All we had from the BPE was that some of the staff that were supposed to be paid were ghost workers. After series of meetings they confirmed that we were all staff. The payment was supposed to commence March 2013 but up till now the BPE has not given order for direct payment.”
Nwosu said what is owed to 603 workers who were omitted in the initial payment in entitlements and benefits is N1.7 billion.
One of the protesters, Jimoh Zakari Auwal, who corroborated his colleague’s statements added that they had approached the accountant general but was told they couldn’t be paid without BPE’s approval.
“That’s why we are waiting for BPE to give them approval so that they can pay us. That’s why we are here.”
“We were here December 2013 but the DG of BPE promised that he was going to see the VP and said we should give him two weeks. Now we are in February, all the issues have not been settled. Some of our colleagues have died, some in hospital bed, some paralysed,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, it took the intervention of the Director of Information and Communication of the BPE, Mr. Sanusi Sule, to calm the protesters through a brief meeting with four representatives of the ex-staff.
Part of the agreement reached at the meeting , Daily Trust learnt, was that the BPE will immediately write a memo to the minister of communication to activate the committee set up initially to address their entitlement issues, which the ex-workers will now be part of .
Our correspondent gathered that a committee, the Presidential Task Force on NITEL/M-tel Labour Restructuring (Taskforce) set up by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) since 2010 to address the issue of outstanding salaries and allowances owed to Nitel/M-tel staff had been inactive since 2011 and until that committee meets, no form of payment can commence.
Meanwhile, when contacted on phone, spokesman for the bureau, Chigbo Anichebe explained that after the initial payments to beneficiaries it was later discovered that some others were not paid. He assured that as soon as proceeds from NITEL are collected all their entitlements would be paid.
According to him, until that is done whatever money that will be paid to them will have to come from the budget.
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