As Niger State organised labour marks the 2024 Workers’ Day with lectures and prayers instead of parade, the body has demanded immediate refund of the state Contributory Health Insurance schemes (NiCARE) deductions from April salary.
The chairman of the state Council of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Idris Abdulkareem Lafene made this demand at the event that held at Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre, Minna.
He gave the government 24 hours to refund the deduction until the necessary review of the scheme as presented by the labour earlier is properly looked into.
The NLC chairman maintained that the government must review the entire scheme, unless the handlers of the scheme did not want it to succeed in the state.
Lafene, who presented 19 demands to the government on behalf of organised labour, also sought for the review of the policy of withholding internally generated revenue by tertiary institutions and addressing decay infrastructures in schools and health institutions at all levels.
In his response, the head of service (HoS) Abubakar Salihu who represented Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago assured that the government will look into the decision on NiCARE for appropriate action to be taken.
He also assured that the state will implement the template of federal government’s salary increase by percentage while urging civil servants in the state to key into the agriculture programme of the state to improve their wellbeing instead of going for ‘’sharp sharp loans” to complement their salaries.
