…canvasses their support for his second term

By Peter Duru, Makurdi

Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has urged Benue workers to support his second term bid promising to always accord priority attention to their welfare.

The Governor who made the call while addressing workers at the May Day rally held in Makurdi assured that his administration would continue to ensure the prompt payment of salaries and pensions of workers and retirees.

He stated that the workers day was not just a celebration but a demonstration of the commitment of his administration to the welfare of workers.

He assured that his administration would continue to work assiduously to make the people happy and also address the security challenges in the state.

He said: “Ours is a people centered administration and we will continue to work hard to make the people happy.

“We have also been working very hard to tackle insecurity in the state and ensure that the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, return to their ancestral homes to continue to farm to feed the state and the nation as a whole.

“I want to assure you that we will not let our guards down until security is fully restored in our state.

“As we mark this day it is not just a day of celebration, it is a day of recommitment to the welfare of our workers. We will continue to ensure that prompt payment of salaries on or before the 24th of every month. And workers should expect the payment of one month salaries arrears next month.”

While urging the workers to always stand with his administration, the Governor said, “do not fail the mathematics of four plus four. As you are seated I know you want me to continue and I will continue.”

Earlier, the Benue state chapter Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Terungwa Igbe who commended the Governor for ensuring prompt payment of salaries and pensions urged him to pay workers the pending 2017 salaries arrears.

The Chairman who also lauded the Governor for ensuring the payment of minimum wage to Benue workers however lamented that the inflationary rate in the country had eroded the gains of the salary adjustments.