Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) disclosed that the incident happened at midnight on Friday.

It was reported that officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) have commenced rescue operations at the scene.

An eyewitness said some injured persons have been rescued and taken to a nearby hospital.

The number of persons trapped in the building or who suffered casualty is yet to be ascertained at the time of filing this report.

Details later…

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Elder Effiong Essien, the State Head of Civil Service made this known at the official opening ceremony of a 5-Day Capacity Building Retreat for Officers on grade levels 13 to 17 in Uyo on Tuesday.

“In his avowed commitment to the development of workers and growth of the Civil Service, Governor Udom Emmanuel has approved the release of the 2019 promotion to 2, 248 workers in the state government employ,” Essien said.

He explained that the approval for the promotion had received widespread applause within and outside the Civil Service in the state.

According to him, this is a clear testimony that Emmanuel is worker-friendly as demonstrated in the numerous welfare packages provided for workers in the State.

Essien noted that the newly promoted Civil Servants from grade levels seven and above benefited from the promotion exercise.

He lauded the governor for his unrelenting commitment towards the welfare and development of Akwa Ibom workers.

Essien described the promotion as very timely and beneficial, saying that additional earnings would augment the increasing family expenditure of the affected workers.

He charged the workers not to relent in their dedication and support to the present government to reciprocate the Governor’s sincere concern for them.

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Our correspondent reports that the picketing took place at the Mansard House, Victoria Island area of Lagos State.

It was also reported that some aggrieved members were seeing chanting solidarity songs, while holding placards of various inscriptions, to drive home their demands.

Some of the inscriptions on the placards read: “We say no to bad labour practices; “BakerHughes stop denying us our rights.”

Mr Leroy Musa, Industrial Relations Officer, PENGASSAN, Lagos Zone, said that in spite of the pleas and meetings held with the company’s management, it still locked out the employees.

“The management was with PENGASSAN discussing conditions for separating members which usually is supposed to be a voluntary separation, agreed by law and signed, before implemented.

“Our members got to the office only to be locked outside the office on the ground that they have been sacked.

“No pre-notice, no meetings and nothing to prepare the workers’ minds; we are here to say no to the injustice.

“PENGASSAN is against this, and we will fight against it,” Musa said.

Also, the Industrial Relations Officer, PENGASSAN, Baker Hughes Branch, Mr Olisa Igwebike, said the company’s management had breached the agreements made earlier by both parties.

According to him, due process should have been followed before the management locked out the workers.

“Typically, once negotiation has been done, we now agreed on the numbers of people that will be laid off and decided that we will be having a meeting afterward to complete all other modalities.

“When the meeting was to take place, the management locked out all the workers including union members; the management has already broken the process chain.

“It just means that as an entity, PENGASSAN, the management has no respect for authority, laws of the land and flouted the Department of Petroleum Resources and Ministry of Labour rules,” Igwebike said.

Responding, Mr Olusegun Obagbemi, the Communications Director, Baker Hughes, confirmed the development.

Obagbemi, in a text message to our correspondent, said he would get necessary details on the issue and respond later.

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Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, gave the assurance on Thursday at a meeting with the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) in Abuja.

According to him, notwithstanding a shortfall in revenue, government will start the payment with six hospitals, while expecting more fund.

On the Residency Training for doctors, Ngige said the Federal Ministry of Health and the Budget Office of the Federation were working in tandem with the Federal Ministry of Finance to resolve the problem in the budget.

He added that the processing would commence soon.

“The Teaching Hospitals and Medical Centres have been directed to submit to the Ministry of Health, the list of names of their personnel who had some hitches in receiving their payments and the names will then be forwarded to IPPIS from there,” he said.

He, however, added that the issue of shortfall in payments had also been dealt with, as the names of the affected persons will be compiled and forwarded to the Ministry of Finance.

Ngige also revealed that the case of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) had been amicably resolved, with the Chief Medical Director bringing back the interdicted Resident Doctors.

“The two factors thrown up by the crisis in that local chapter of NARD had merged peacefully.

“Elections have been conducted to elect an interim executive to man the affairs of that chapter till December 2020, after which a fresh election would hold for a new executive that would take over in 2021,” he said

The minister commended the interim government in UPTH headed by Dr Solomon Amadi, and the Peace Committee for brokering peace successfully and the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) for superintending over the election.

Dr Aliyu Sokomba, President of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), noted that although a few issues were still pending but that significant progress had really been made in addressing the concerns of NARD.

Sokomba commended the efforts of the Federal Government side led by Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen Chris Ngige in ensuring industrial peace in the sector.

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Mr Ayuba Wabba, the NLC President made the call on Tuesday in commemoration of the 2020 International Workers’ Memorial Day with the theme: “Stop the Pandemic at Work”.

“On this occasion, we make the point that labour is not a commodity to be taken, trampled, and tossed aside.

“Workers create the wealth and demand a decent fraction of the reward of their efforts.

“We urge workers everywhere to continue to draw inspiration from the fact that without our sweat, no sweet gain can be made.

“Without the twitching of our muscles, no socio-economic puzzle can be solved.

“In reciprocation of the enormous sacrifice made by workers, we urge employers of labour to show solidarity with the sacrifice of our workers and people by ensuring wage protection, income support and social inclusion at these trying times.

“This is not the time to stop or deduct from workers’ salaries. Such an action would be both illogical and illegal as workers’ salaries are core elements of employment contracts and collective bargaining agreements.

“We have asked our affiliates and state councils to resist any salary deduction on the account of COVID-19.

“We reassure our workers that our priority in these trying times remains the cautious, gradual, evidence-led and smart restart of the economy so that our workers can go back to work,” he said.

He said that the NLC was completely committed to the recovery of lost jobs, protection of wages, support for income and livelihood and improvement of Nigeria’s social safety net.

Wabba, while speaking on the commemoration of the day said the celebration was in the memory of workers who had paid the supreme sacrifice in the course of their duties as workers or as activists fighting for the rights and interests of the working class.

He said that it was also a day to remember workers, who had lost some limbs, suffered injury and other forms of severe loss while at their work places.

“The theme of this year’s commemoration is “Stop the Pandemic at Work”.

“This is significant coming at the epoch of the global fight against the novel corona virus disease otherwise known as COVID-19.

“The contribution of frontline workers, especially healthcare workers, has become the only buffer between deaths in thousands and deaths in millions.

“Every day, our healthcare workers courageously dare the stare of death in selfless service to rescue the lives of others.

“On a day like this, we salute the uncommon love, faith, courage, and sacrifice by frontline workers who have given more than what the call of duty demands to give hope to humanity,” he said.

He said that the society would forever remain in indebted to thousands of healthcare workers, transport workers, utility employees, journalists.

“Even workers in the informal sector who have continued to show up at their duty posts despite the threat of death, dearth of working tools and paucity of gratitude,” he said.

The NLC president condoled with the families of workers who had paid the supreme sacrifice in the fight against COVID-19.

He assured them that their labours would not be in vain and their unquantifiable sacrifice would never be forgotten.

“We also wish to use this commemoration to ask government and employers in the private sector to throw in sufficient weight to make the load of our frontline workers easier.

“We demand sufficient personal protection equipment, hand sanitizers, functional wash rooms, suitable rest rooms and other facilities to make the work of our brave warriors on the health frontline less herculean than it already is.

“Our health workers and other frontline workers are not on a suicide mission.

“They simply want to save lives. The least government and employers can do is to help them keep their lives so that they can go on saving other lives.

“We commend the Federal Government for the insurance cover and enhanced incentives provided for frontline health workers. We urge states to follow suit.

“We also commend the Sokoto State government for leading the way in this regard,” he said.

He however noted that Nigeria would be celebrating its 60th Independence, saying it was important to point out that without workers, the independence would have remained a pipe dream.

He further called on the leadership of the industrial unions to ensure that health and safety facilities and guidelines such as running water, soaps, sanitizers, protective masks and social distancing were made available and enforced at different workplaces.

He noted that this would be part of smart measures to restart the economy, “while the government should intensify COVID-19 testing (build at least a test centre in each state), contact tracing, public fumigation, and robust public health education.”

Wabba said given the current lockdown and in line with global realities, 2020 May Day celebration would be low key.

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The approval was contained in a Special Announcement by Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, the State Commissioner for Information and Communications

It stated: “His Excellency, Nyesom Wike, has graciously approved the payment of the minimum wage of N30,000 monthly salary for employees of the Rivers State Public Service with the consequential salary adjustments as approved by the Federal Government.”

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The state Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Rabiu Garba, disclosed at a news conference on Sunday in Gusau that the centenarian is surprisingly collecting salary.

Rabiu made this revelation while shading more light on the state government’s plans to sue about 200 persons illegally on its payroll and collecting monthly salary.

The commissioner also said he confronted the incumbent deputy governor of the state, Mr Mahdi Ali-Gusau, over allegations on social media that the deputy governor was collecting double salary.

According to him, the deputy governor denied the speculations and submitted self for further scrutiny to prove his innocence.

The commissioner however said on further investigations, it was discovered that “some directors of finance were involved in the racket of inflating the state’s workers monthly wage bill and pocketing the excess”.

He also revealed that the scam was more at the state Health Service Management Board (HSMB) where investigations showed that the suspended directors of finance were fraudulently selling out fake offers of employment at the cost of N250,000 to innocent job seekers.

He added that the state government was so far losing more than N216 million monthly to the racketeers.

Ali-Gusau lamented that “if utilised, the state government can employ an additional 8,000 persons and pay them salary” comfortably.

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A statement on by EFCC Spokesman, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, quoted the commission’s Acting Chairman, Mr Ibrahim Magu, as saying this while delivering a lecture on Thursday at the National Defence College (NDC) in Abuja.

Magu spoke on the topic “Corruption and Anti-corruption Strategies in Nigeria: Way Forward,” at the Course 28 Study Programme of NDC with the theme: “Economic Diversification and National Development”.

He reiterated the commitment of the current administration to rid the country of corruption, adding that the involvement of the EFCC had helped in fighting corrupt practices.

Magu also commended the introduction of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) into salary payment, which he said had assisted to save such amount for the government.

“The involvement of the EFCC in tackling the scourge of ghost workers in the civil service has led to a redemption of over N4.5 billion naira monthly.

“The EFCC has been engaged in eradicating ‘ghost workers’ from the federal government’s payroll which has resulted in saving as much as N4.5 billion naira monthly.

“The Bank Verification Number (BVN) has been an effective tool in carrying out investigations effectively, as it has curtailed the opening of fake bank accounts by fraudulent individuals.

“The only gateway to development is through fighting corruption.

“If Nigeria breaks away from corrupt practices in government businesses and in the private sector, we will transform into a model state overnight,” he said.

The commission’s acting chairman disclosed that the commission had secured up to 2,165 convictions over a period of 10 years between 2009 and 2019.

He added that 70 per cent of it was achieved between 2016 and September 2019 under his watch.

The EFCC boss called for more collaboration among security and law enforcement agencies through the National Anti -Corruption Strategy aimed to bring about coherence and synergy among security agencies in the country.

The Commandant of NDC, Rear Adm. Markson Kadiri, emphasised the need for proper utilisation of funds, urging participants to key into the corruption fight.

“We all have a role to play to ensure that monies meant to be used for public good will be applied according to what and how they are meant to be utilised,” he said.

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Aregbesola, who hosted the Federal Government Advocacy Team on the Digital Switch Over, over the weekend in Osogbo, explained that he was not happy with the payment of modulated salary in the state, in which some cadres of the workers get 50 per cent and 75 per cent of their monthly earnings.

According to the governor “no reasonable person or government would be happy for being incapacitated to perform his/its required responsibility”.

“We are not happy paying modulated salary to our workers in the civil service and political appointees, we are compelled by the financial reality; we are constrained.

“Contrary to the lies you are being fed, it is not all our workers that receive half salary. Workers on level 1-7, being the most vulnerable and the largest chunk of the workforce are being paid full salary. Workers on level 8-11 showed understanding with the government to accept 75% of their salary.

“It is only workers on grade level 12 upward that receive 50% of their salary. The workers have shown maturity, support and understanding. We acknowledge and appreciate the sacrifice and support of the workers.”

“Before our government, Osogbo roads were very narrow and since there was no development, there was no heavy traffic and the roads accommodated the users. However, there was influx of people to the state since our administration came on board. There was heavy traffic on the Osogbo roads and they could not accommodate the traffic anymore.

“We started construction of new roads and rehabilitation of some existing ones to ease traffic. As a visionary government, we know that by the time our economic plan begins to grow, the Osogbo roads would become busier, so we come up with the construction of Osogbo East Bypass road.

“The Osogbo east bypass road has four big bridges. Anybody that does not have business in Osogbo will take the road to their various destinations. This will reduce traffic on Osogbo township roads. We constructed the road for economic purposes. People that are narrow in thinking do not know that.

“We know that things are hard and the state is passing through financial difficulty. But we are undeterred by the challenges. Our credo is to see that our people explore their freedom for economic prosperity.

“Our joy is in the fact that we will leave a legacy that will transform into economic prosperity for the people and the state. Like the credo of our mentor, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, we want freedom for all, life more abundant,” Aregbesola said.

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