TheCable

Staff members of the Imo state house of assembly have rejected the 50 percent reduction in their salary cheques.

The cheques for the month of May were issued on Friday but the workers said none of them would accept it.

Ngozi Ofoegbu, chairman of the Imo chapter of parliamentary staff association of Nigeria (PASAN), told NAN in Owerri on Monday that the slash was unacceptable.

Ofoegbu kicked against the development, saying the staff had been owed salaries since April and that most of them had to take loans to survive.

“Our salaries were last paid in April, since then, we have been managing to survive; some of us have taken loans to enable us sustain our families until salaries are paid,” she said.

“We were dismayed when we received our cheques because our salaries had been reduced by half.

“A junior staff who receives N40,000 as his monthly salary got N20,000. After servicing the loan at the bank, the person goes home with nothing.”

Kenneth Anyanwu, another staff member of the assembly, said nothing had been said about paying them their arrears.

He held that the salaries were hardly enough to survive on before the slash.

“As people with families, we have school fees and house rents and other responsibilities to take care of,” he said.

“We had hoped that the arrears would be paid in bulk so we can have something left after paying off the debts we have incurred.”

Anyanwu urged the state government to reconsider the slash and pay the full salaries.

Iheanacho Ihim, speaker of the assembly, urged the workers to remain calm as there was no money in the state’s treasury.

Ihim also said his salary was reduced by over 50 percent and promised that he would ensure that they received their full salaries.