VIO, CSOs Differ On Non-payment Of 50 Officers’ Salary  

Mixed reactions have continued to trail the non-payment of 50 personnel engaged by the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS) otherwise known as Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs).

It was gathered that VIO allegedly employed about 50 personnel for four years with secondary school, Diploma and NCE who are yet to be paid even though none of them is a senior officer with Degree or HND.

The engaged personnel, it was gathered have salaries of about N40,000 and since 2019, they have not been paid but they kept on working.

A Civil Society Organization (CSO), Common Justice Foundation has written to the VIO, seeking to get the details of the payment made to the staff but even after 14 days as provided by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), no response was given to them.

The FoI request which was signed by the national coordinator, Peter Samuel Yakubu, said: “We are a civil society organization and we receive several complaints from your staff.

“You may recall that from 2019 to 2020 your organization employed and deployed staff who are still working and we received many complaints from those staff that their salaries were willfully withheld and never been paid even once while those employed in 2021 were receiving salaries.”

“In light of the above, we request that our office be furnished with detailed information with respect to the payment of salaries of the staff employed from 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively, ” the group said.

But responding, a consultant with the VIO, Comrade Salisu Dantata said the people making such claims are not staff, adding that it’s the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) that employ staff that work as VIOs in the FCT.

“They are not staff. They were part of the SURE-P programme working in VIO. When the SURE-P programme ended, some of them decided they will work as volunteers, ” Dantata said, adding that staff who are genuinely employed by the appropriate authority which is the FCTA are receiving their salaries.

“The immediate director of the VIO, Wadata Aliyu Bodinga, alongside the chief provost, Sani Ibrahim, kicked against the use of volunteers but the head of the area commands in different districts now continue to use these volunteers.

“Some of them even bring their own people from their respective staff and they don’t have employment letters or ID cards. The area commanders used to give those who go for operations some allowances or stipends.

“There was a time the provost started arresting these volunteers whenever they were found on the roads because they were doing illegal work. It is now left for the new director, Dr Abdullateef Bello to either send their names to be absorbed or not.

“Every VIO official is employed by the HR department of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). If they claim they are staff, where are their employment letters signed by the HR of the FCT?” Dantata asked.