Anambra workers unhappy over unpaid salaries, urge Soludo to redeploy Staff of Water Corporation

 

By Okechukwu Onuegbu 

Staff of the defunct Anambra State Water Cooperation have expressed displeasure over governor Chukwuma Soludo's administration refusal to reintegrate them into the civil service and pay their salaries backlogs accruing to billions of Naira if well calculated.

The staff also rejected the out of court settlement or agreement which the State government alleged to have entered with their union with a sum of N325,562,788.17 as entitlements from 2012 to 2018.

The State government in the agreement signed in 2024 claimed to have disengaged the staff of the defunct water corporation from service on June 2, 2015 when the state House of Assembly passed a bill to establish the Anambra State Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) Law, 2015.

 The bill, which was signed into law by former Governor Willie Obiano, established the Anambra State Asset Holding Company, the Anambra State Small Town Water and Sanitation Agency, Rural Water and Sanitation Agency, the regulatory commission as well as specified the roles of government, private sector and other matters connected therewith.

But contrary to governor Soludo's administration position, the WSS law vested all the existing and new state-owned water infrastructures and assets in the urban areas including management of water services assets, investments, liabilities and staff of the water corporation to the Anambra state Urban Water Asset Holdings Corporation (UWAHC).

Unfortunately, the incumbent administration after taken over the assets of the defunct water corporation and what the troubled staff managed to garnish from some of the State government banks accounts, failed to offset the staff salaries as agreed and to redeploy them to the new agencies established by the law or State civil service.

Terms of settlement 

BoadmascashNg obtained a copy of the term of settlement allegedly reached by the State Water Corporation staff though their union, Amalgamated Union of Public Cooperation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Employee (AUPCTRE) and Anambra State government on February 6th, 2024. 

The document entitled Terms of Settlement, was signed by the representatives of AUPCTRE such as Comrade Benjamin Anthony (National President), Comrade Sikiry Waheed (General Secretary) and Comrade Emmanuel Onyejiaka (State Chairman). The signatories and representative of the State government were the State Head of Service, Mrs Theodora Igwegbe, the Accountant General of Anambra State, Dr Chukwudi Okoli, the Managing Director, Anambra State Urban Water Asset Holdings Corporation, Mr Ikeobi Ejiofor, and State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Professor Sylvia Ifemeje.

It listed their agreements in eleven articles, which among other things, were that only qualified and willing staff identified through the needs assessment exercise will receive condonation of service, and release of the account with N473,000,000 garnishee in Fidelity Bank for payment of the affected workers in installments for a period of four years. The first payment was said to be N473,000,000 in 2024, N363,381,006 in 2025, with expectations that the sum of N363,381006 would paid to them in 2026, and N363,381,006 in 2027.

However, a counter resolution issued by the AUPCTRE chapter of the Anambra State Water Corporation on April 23, 2024 and signed by the Chairman, Ejiofor Okafor and Secretary, Simeon Nwafor, dismissed the entire articles in the terms of settlement, noting that they were neither part of the agreement nor consulted before, during and after the "so-called negotiation and out of court settlement."

They reminded the State government that termination of appointment of workers was against the civil service policy and section 154 (subsection 6a and b) of WSS law, in addition to the fact that they have a dedicated account payroll system even as welfare of their pensioners were not captured in the agreement.

Also, the Anambra State Water Corporation Workers Welfare Association in a letter to governor Soludo dated 15th March, 2023 requested for their active staff to be resolved into the civil service while the pensioners be transferred to the Anambra State Pension's Board.

The welfare association in the letter signed by their Chairman, Comrade Anthony Gbasuzo, the Secretary, Comrade Bede Umeadi, and three members such as Comrades- Andrew Ogbuagu, G. Obiegbuna and Hilary Izuagwu, appealed to the governor to intervene on their matter with references to Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP) award against the State government, unpaid salaries, pensions and other entitlements.

IAP

The Industrial Arbitration Court (IAP) had in 2012 award directed the State government to pay salaries and other allowances to the State workers under the Anambra State Water Corporation, including payment of pensions and gratuity to those retired, effect appropriate promotions and salary increments across board to all the staff still in service.

But the State government refusal to implement the IAP forced the staff and others through the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Service Employees (AUPCTRE) to approach the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) Abuja to enforce the monetary part of the award.

"The garnishee proceeding was transferred to the Enugu Division of the NICN. In 14th July, 2014, an absolute garnishee order was issued to the Fidelity Bank to release the fund of Anambra State government domiciled therein amounting to N1.86 billion for Anambra State Water Corporation ( N1.5 billion) and ANSEPA (N360 million). After the disbursement, the Anambra State government further refused to pay and promote the workers in accordance with the IAP award. 

"The AUPCTRE went back to NICN Enugu to enforce the remaining part of the award. We initiated another garnishee proceedings. The NICN ordered a garnishee absolute on N471,000,000. On January 11, 2022, the Anambra State government indicated their wish to appeal on 12 January, 2022 but this was never done. 

"They rather met the union (AUPCTRE) which initially proposed to the State to pay the outstanding salaries (2012 up to 2018) in 3 instamental payments of N933,000,000 and a verification exercise. This was later not done. Rather they conducted a verification exercise and others which were not in the proposal submitted," the source stated.

Reactions 

A member of the Anambra State Water Corporation Welfare Association and Head of Account, Mr Hilary Izuagwu lamented that about four hundred of their members have died while many are currently bedridden or incapacitated with their children and wards wallowing in abject poverty even when each of them is owed.

Izuagwu, who reiterated their positions said, "We were not consulted nor in the know the basis in which our salary claim was scaled down from N2.79 billion to N1.56 billion and the criteria for the dismissal or termination of workers which is against the Anambra State Edit of No. 3, 1999 and the provisions in the yet to be implemented WSS law.

"We condemn in very strong terms the refusal by the Anambra State government to pay the salaries of its workers in Anambra Water Corporation. We hold that this act constitutes the worst form of unfair labour practice in Nigeria," he added.

Also speaking, another staff of the agency and Assistant Information Officer, Mr Kingsley Nwabuwa, said he was surprised when he heard people saying that the State government had pay them off and employed some of them willing to work, describing it as untrue.

The staff urged governor Chukwuma Soludo to quickly look into their plights and save them and their families from hunger especially now the economy of the country is in shambles.

The corporation was officially shut down in 2012 by the state government which also laid off over 1,000 staff of Anambra State Water Corporation, Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency (ANSEPA), Volunteer Service Agency and Anambra State Marketing Company LTD.