REPORTER: PEACE AGBO
Abia state government says Leave Bonus is included in the Consolidated Judicial Salary Structure payment to workers in the state judiciary.
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ikechukwu Uwanna stated this while providing clarifications to newsmen at the Government House Umuahia on the indefinite strike by members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria JUSUN, in Abia State.
The Attorney General who addressed the press alongside the Commissioner for Information Prince Okey Kanu, and their Labour & Productivity counterpart as well as the Accountant General of the state challenged the workers to proof that the government had not being paying their Leave Bonus.
He said that that if the union proves that their members had not being receiving the bonus the state government would offset it within 48 hours.
Mr Uwanna explained that the executive of JUSUN only last month requested for the payment of the leave allowance of its members and pointed out that the office of the Accountant General had called for the details of their salary payslips to prove the inclusion of the leave bonus in their monthly salaries as consolidated package
Addressing the issue of verification of the Judiciary staff, the Attorney General stressed that arrangements had been concluded to conduct the exercise but regretted that the leadership of the Union had been frustrating the plan and urged them to support the government to carry out the verification.
Contributing Abia State the Accountant General,Deaconess Njum Onyemanam said that the government had been prompt in releasing money for the payment of salaries and other entitlements of its workers including pensions and advised the Leadership of JUSUN in Abia state to co operate with the government to enable it’s members receive their entitlements duly .
