Benue admits owing 150 teachers four years’ salary arrears

The Benue State Government has admitted that it is owing 150 teachers four years’ salary arrears.
The Chairman of Benue State Universal Basic Education Board, Mr. David Tsevende, made the admission in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Makurdi on Wednesday.
He was reacting to an enquiry by NAN on reports that 150 primary school teachers, recruited by the board in 2008, had not been paid anything since they assumed duty four years ago.


The teachers, had in separate interviews with NAN, pleaded for the payment of their salaries and had described their situation as ‘grave injustice’.
The teachers, who pleaded anonymity for fear of  being penalised, said they had undergone series of screenings without receiving the salaries.
They complained that the non-payment of their salaries had negatively impacted on their families, and made it difficult for them to make ends meet.

Some of them said they had been unable to continue with the payment of rents and had been evicted from their apartments. They said if the government did not need their services any no longer, they should lay them off rather than make them work without pay.
They, however, said that in spite of the hardships they were facing, they would not resign, claiming that if they did, their labour would be in vain.
Confirming the development, Tsevende blamed the delay in the payment of the salaries on the 2008 Verification Exercise Committee which, he said,  recommended the termination of the appointments of the teachers.

The chairman stressed that the recommendation was based on “non-compliance with due process in their recruitment.”
 He, however, said that the payment of the salaries would be from  January 2012, adding that that no arrears would be paid.
Tsevende also said the board had yet to begin the payment of the new minimum wage to its teachers.
 He said the money from the Bureau of Local Government to the board was inadequate to pay the minimum wage.

The minimum wage for teachers, he said, could only be implemented if the federal allocation was reviewed
upwards, adding that the board would need about N2.3 billion monthly to pay the teachers.
“Primary school teachers’ staff strength outweighs that of all the ministries, departments and agencies as such their wage bill is usually high,” he said.