ASCSN urges FG to pay workers’ salary arrears to stimulate economy

Alarmed by the untold suffering that Nigerians particularly civil servants are going through, especially in the past few months, organised labour under the auspices of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has urged the Federal Government to take urgent steps and pay the Federal Civil Servants their outstanding salaries and allowances.

The association, who said it was alarmed by the suffering that Nigerian people, particularly the civil servants, have been going through in the last few months, said the payment of the money to thousands of civil servants will stimulate the economy.

The Secretary-General of ASCSN, Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, emphasised that if the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari proceeded to pay arrears of salaries and allowances, including promotion arrears owed thousands of federal civil servants, their purchasing powers would surely increase.

“This is the right time to act. Government should therefore not waste the opportunity. We believe that since these federal civil servants and their dependants live in different parts of the country, if these outstanding entitlements are paid to them, it will have positive ripple effects on the economy and douse the tension in the land.

“There is anger and hunger in the country and as a patriotic trade union organisation, we have decided to bring this deplorable situation to the notice of government so that it can take necessary measures to stem the tide by doing the needful,” he said.

The Secretary General wondered why the Federal Government that doled out N713.7 billion to states to pay arrears of salaries and allowances to their workers had refused to settle similar debt owed its own employees, even when a committee it set up to compute the outstanding liabilities completed its assignment and submitted its report to the presidency more than 10 months ago.

“Generally, while the cost of goods and services has continued to rise astronomically, salaries of workers have remained static and these are not even paid in some states for the past six months.”