Staff of Imo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (ISOPADEC) have appealed to the state government to reverse the 80 per cent cut in their salaries in July rejected pay cut of 80 Per cent, by the state government, which they said reflected in their July 2020 salary.
Mr Chinedu Awuzie, Chairman of the staff union made the appeal at a press conference in Owerri on Thursday.
Awuzie said that since workers of the commission did not receive pension after retirement, it was inhuman to slash their salaries.
He said besides the pay cut, government was still owing staff of the commission three months salary, which he said had made them suffer untold hardship.
Awuzie, who displayed bank details of their July salary, said while majority of their staff received 80 per cent pay cut, some of the staff members were yet to be paid.
He argued that ISOPADEC was not under the Civil Service structure of the state and wondered why the government included their payroll under the civil service structure.
“We are not civil servants, but public servants. Our job is not pensionable and so government must realise that fact and treat us accordingly.
“ISOPADEC was established to cushion the effect of oil spillage in oil producing areas, we believe in the Share Prosperity Mantra of our governor, so we urge him to come to our aid,” he said.
On the alleged attack on Gov. Hope Uzodinma’s convoy by staff of ISOPADEC, Awuzie denied their involvement but acknowledged that some staff who were on a peaceful protest over four months salary owed them were arrested by the police.
He insisted that no staff of ISOPADEC was involved in the alleged attack, saying those arrested by the police were workers of the commission who were on a peaceful protest to government house in Owerri over unpaid salaries.
“We were on a peaceful protest to government house to demand for our unpaid four months salaries when the police ambushed us and arrested 15 of our members,” he said.
In a swift reaction, Mr Declan Emelumba, Imo Commissioner for Information, said their claims on salary cut was false.
He said government decided to pay them on normal salary structure until the controversy in the special salary structure which they had been enjoying was resolved.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Police Command in Imo, on Monday, arrested 15 workers of ISOPADEC for alleged involvement in the Uzodinma’s convoy attack.The 15 suspects were however, arraigned and remanded in prison on Wednesday.(NAN)
