Wike proposes diverting councils’ 10% IGR to fund teachers’ salaries
FCT Minister Nyesom Wike threatened on Thursday to redirect the 10 percent Internally Generated Revenue from FCT area councils to pay striking primary school teachers.
Wike called the ongoing strike “unfortunate and unacceptable” in response to questions from journalists.
Newsmen report that primary school teachers under the Local Education Authority (LEA) resumed their strike last week over the non-payment of the remaining 60 percent of their 25 months’ minimum wage arrears and other entitlements by the six area council chairmen. This action followed the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum without a positive response.
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Earlier this year, the minister paid 40 percent of the wage arrears, while the area council chairmen promised to pay the remaining 60 percent—an agreement that the teachers claim has not been honored.
The teachers barricaded the gates of the councils’ secretariats for hours on Wednesday, preventing workers and other council officials from entering.
After inspecting the ongoing reconstruction of the Abuja-Karshi road, Wike responded to journalists, stating that no serious government would be happy seeing school-age children at home due to avoidable strikes. He warned that he would not stand by and allow such situations to continue.
He said, “I’ve invited the area council chairmen and the NUT to sit down and discuss these issues. We need to address them to ensure the system is functioning well. It is unfortunate, as I told the area council chairmen.”
“And that means if the teachers are not paid, I will use the 10% IGR, which we normally allocate to them, to pay the teachers. No serious government will allow its teachers to stay at home while the children suffer; I will not tolerate that.”
Proofreading by Uchechi Ojo, Sub-editor at Neptune Prime.
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