BY CHAMBERLAIN ODEY, JOS – The former chairman of NULGE, Mangu Local Government Area between 2010 and 2016, Comrade Bitson Alexander has faulted Governor Simon Lalong over claims that the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State, Mr. Caleb Mutfwang, left office as Chairman of the Council in July 2015 with 10 months’ unpaid salary burden.
Alexander specifically said that salaries were strictly handled by the Local Government Service Commission through a centralized payment system, stressing that it was erroneous to state that the chairman of the Local Government was responsible for the delay in the payment of salaries whatsoever.
Governor Lalong had alleged at an APC campaign rally in Wase that Mutfwang left office with a back log of 10 months unpaid salaries, saying that he has documents to that effect.
But, Alexander while faulting Lalong, said what happened was that “there was delay in payment of salaries due to biometric screening exercise”.
He described as untrue the story propagated by Lalong that Caleb Mutfwang left office with 10 Months of unpaid salaries.
Alexander told journalists on telephone that to the best of his knowledge, he collected his salary January, 2015, and got that of February in the same month, adding that it was around March that the Local Government Council started experiencing delay in payment of salaries.
In his words; “But, the last salary I collected when Mutfwang was in office was March salary which was paid in early June 2015 while that of April and May were paid in July, few days after they were removed from office by Governor Lalong.
“To the best of my knowledge, the salary that I did not collect was about two months before his tenure was terminated in July, and the delay was due to the biometric exercise.
Also speaking on the issue, Comrade Daniel Bitrus, who was Chairman of the Medical and Health Workers Union in Mangu between 2015 and 2020, said he can’t remember that Mutfwang left 10 months’ salary arrears as being alleged.
According to Bitrus; “I know that we used to have issues with payment of salary which is still there up till now. There are occasions that if you want to pay salaries for this month, it may stretch into the following month for about two weeks.
“If somebody said Mutfwang left 10 months unpaid salaries, I don’t think he is being fair and realistic. I remember that Mutfwang too inherited one month unpaid salary of health workers and it was cleared during his time. He is somebody we know who is sincere and straight forward. We enjoyed harmonious working relationship with him as Chairman,” he said.
Another Union leader during the tenure of Mutfwang as chairman of Mangu LGC, Comrade Isaac Dapul, of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), explained that he was elected in 2014 when Caleb Mutfwang was serving as Local Government Chairman and did not encounter any challenge with salary payment.
He said; “Honestly, the issue that Barrister Caleb Mutfwang did not pay salaries for 10 months is not true. When I came in and met Mutfwang, no strike action or protest was carried out during his tenure on account of lack of payment of salaries.
“It is not true that Mutfwang did not pay teachers or staff salaries for 10 months”.
Further checks at the Local Government Service Commission indicated that in 2015, workers in Mangu Local Government Council, received their January, 2015 salaries on the January 29, received February salaries on the March 27, and received March salary on June 6 when Mutfwang was still serving his tenure, while April and May 2015 salaries were paid on July 16 and 25, few days after the tenure of Local Government Chairmen in the state was terminated by Governor Lalong on July 6, 2015.
