The Nigerian
Embassy in Washington, DC, has said that the recent disengagement of some
workers at the embassy followed due process.
Senior
officials at the embassy told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the
benefits of the 15 local workers, who were recently laid off, would be paid
soon.
They said the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja, approved the disengagement of the workers
due to some ongoing rationalisation of workers at the embassy.
The officials, however,
said the ministry had also approved the payment of gratuities to the workers,
some of whom had worked with the embassy for more than 30 years.
Some of the affected
workers had alleged that the decision to lay them off was arbitrary.
They also alleged that the
embassy had no plans to pay their gratuity and other severance benefits.
Further, the local staff,
who were mostly Nigerians, had accused the mission of retaining the
non-Nigerian employees at the expense of those who are of Nigerian nationality.
However, the embassy
officials denied that there was no prior notice to the disengaged workers,
saying they actually agreed to the arrangement since February 2017.
They also assured the
workers that the processes for the payment of their entitlements had reached an
advanced stage.
One of the officials said:
“In February 2017, there was a decision to disengage some of the local staff.
“However, they pleaded to
an arrangement to be on contract for another one year, which lapsed in February
2018. The ministry from Abuja approved their disengagement.
“As I am talking to you, we
have received approval from Abuja to pay their benefits and they would be paid
very soon. It is true that some of them have put in up to 30 years of service.
“They were engaged on
contracts and it is the decision of the government to either continue to renew
their contract or to terminate it if their services are no longer needed.
“Some whose contracts were
terminated in 2013 were not paid in full but we are working out their benefits
to make sure that those whose appointments were terminated receive their full
benefits.
“It is also not true that
they were arbitrarily disengaged; they were aware of the contract and they
signed on to it since last year”.
NAN recalled that the
embassy, in 2017, had several disagreements with the local workers over the
non-payment of salaries spanning several months, leading to protest at the
embassy at the time.
Some of the workers also
embarked on work to rule, which disrupted consular services at the embassy
before they were paid following approval of three months’ salary by the
ministry.
Some workers in the country
have said they will no longer accept N18,000 as minimum wage when a senator
collects N13.5m monthly as a running cost.
The workers under the
auspices of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical
and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) also faulted the slow pace of
work on the issue of minimum wage.
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