NULGE protest: Area councils get September allocation

After a protest by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) last Thursday over delay in payment of September salaries, the Permanent Secretary of the FCT, Engineer John Chukwu, invited the six area councils for the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) meeting to share the allocation for the month of September.

A source who partook in the JAAC meeting but craved anonymity confided in our reporter that immediately after the permanent secretary addressed the protesters at the main entrance of the FCDA, he directed the AMAC chairman, Micah Jiba, who phoned other council chairmen to come for the JAAC meeting.

The source disclosed that the council chairmen, however, grumbled after the sharing as they discovered that the amount every area council received was not enough to even pay staff salaries.

One of the council chairmen who does not want his name in print, also confirmed over the phone to our reporter that a JAAC meeting was held on Thursday after the protest.

“Honestly, the amount every area council got can’t even pay staff salaries. It was when we asked the permanent secretary to pay us the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) owed the councils for the months of August and September that we can pay staff salaries,” he said.

He disclosed further that his area council’s wage bill was N87 million whereas he got only N65 million from JAAC, which he said was quite worrisome.

City News learnt that apart from the IGR, the council chairmen also requested for money from outdoor advertisements that area councils normally receive quarterly to enable them meet their staff salaries and payment of other entitlements.