FCT Water Board pays casual workers stipends after Wike’s intervention

Casual workers with the FCT Water Board have commended the FCTA Minister, Nyesom Wike, for approving the payment of three out of six months stipends owed them by the board. The workers said they started receiving alerts days after Daily Trust exclusively reported about their plights over the owed stipends. Abuja Metro reported that there […]

Casual workers with the FCT Water Board have commended the FCTA Minister, Nyesom Wike, for approving the payment of three out of six months stipends owed them by the board.

The workers said they started receiving alerts days after Daily Trust exclusively reported about their plights over the owed stipends.

Abuja Metro reported that there were two categories of casual workers with the FCT Water Board, one being paid by the FCT Administration and the other one being paid directly by the FCT Water Board.

Our correspondent had also reported that those being paid directly by the board were being owed for six months.

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The casual workers, some of whom are HND degree holders, are being paid between N20,000 and N25,000 monthly.

The workers commended the minister for being a listening leader and urged him to approve the payment of the remaining three months.

One of the workers, Chinenye John, also commended the General Manager of the Board Saka Audu, for his quick intervention.

She said, “We are happy with the minister, he has done well in listening to our plight and acting immediately. The General Manager also did well, he has been trying his best, we pray he will be able to get us absorbed into the FCTA payroll before his tenure ends.”

“We also commend Daily Trust Newspaper, which has been reporting not only our issues but any matter affecting people of the FCTA. That is how the media should be making an impact, they reported our plight and three to four days after, we started receiving alerts.”

Workers plead with Wike to make them permanent

Meanwhile, the workers are appealing to the FCTA Minister, Nyesom Wike, to approve their appointment into the FCTA workforce.

One of the workers, who simply gave her name as Madam Salamatu, said they have been casual staff for more than 10 years and that all efforts to make them permanent by the previous administration had yielded no results.

She pleaded with Wike to use his good office to make their longtime request a reality, reminding him that his name remains forever in their minds and those of their dependents.

Another casual worker, who gave his name simply as Rotimi, said some of them being paid directly by the board were the worst hit.

According to him, while their colleagues being paid by the FCT Administration get their stipends regularly, it is not the same with those being paid by the FCT Water Board.

He urged the minister to come to their aid, saying most of them have several dependents.

A senior staff member of the Board told our correspondent that the minister had upon assumption of office, asked for the list of all casual workers for absorption into the FCTA’s payroll.

He said the board had complied by forwarding same to the office of the FCTA Head of Service and the FCT Civil Service Commission, adding however that nothing has been done since then.