The National Secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Mr. Labaran Maku, has raised the alarm that workers on the payroll of the Nasarawa State Government are allegedly being forced to sign vouchers without receiving their salaries.
Maku, who is a former Minister of Information, said President Muhammadu Buhari should be aware of the fraudulent development and employ the appropriate mechanism to get to its roots.
He made this claim at Idevi Village in Obi Local Government Area of the state, shortly after the burial of Mrs. Na’omi Malle Nathan, daughter of a former speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Hon. Elisha Agwadu.
Maku said, “Out of fear of dismissal from work, the workers signed the vouchers without being paid their salaries. As the opposition leader in the state, I want to say that we have never heard this before.
“We heard recently that the Economic and Financial Crime Commission arrived in the state to investigate what has happened to the bail-out fund President Buhari gave to Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura. What we suspect is that workers are being forced to sign the vouchers so that the vouchers will be taken to Abuja to prove that Al-Makura has been paying salaries to date.”
The APGA national secretary alleged that the governor received the Federal Government bail-out funds, but failed to pay workers and pensioners in the state.
“We know that the monies that were released to this government were sufficient to pay all salaries, allowances, pensions and gratuities of all workers and retirees in the state. What has happened is that these monies were diverted by the state government to do white elephant so that those in government can make money. If you pay salaries, there is no kick back; but if you do an airport in your village, you can multiply the costs and take the money away,” Maku said.
He, therefore, called on President Buhari to set up a panel to investigate what had been happening in Nasarawa State, where workers allegedly signed vouchers without collecting salaries.
“If anybody goes to Abuja and claim that salaries are paid, I am speaking on authority that salaries are not being paid in Nasarawa State. They are empty vouchers. The workers that signed it have not collected their salaries,” Maku further said.
