There are indications that the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari that every government ministry, departments and agencies (MDA) should remit their earnings into a Treasury Single Account (TSA) may have started taking its toll on the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Shipping Position Daily gathered that the NPA was still unable to fulfil the agreement it had with the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) over the payment of benefits to tally clerks and on-board security men.
There are indications that the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari that every government ministry, departments and agencies (MDA) should remit their earnings into a Treasury Single Account (TSA) may have started taking its toll on the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Shipping Position Daily gathered that the NPA was still unable to fulfil the agreement it had with the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) over the payment of benefits to tally clerks and on-board security men.
This is even as the union has threatened that it will soon picket some stevedoring firms that lack up-to-date safety equipment in the seaports.
Speaking exclusively with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos, President of the Dockworkers Branch of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria; Comrade Adewale Adeyanju lamented that the NPA is being handicapped by the TSA and that up till now; the workers have not been paid.
"The management of NPA has refused to honour our agreement for them to pay tally clerks and on-board security men, but we have been trying to find out what is causing the delay, you remember this one account thing, this is what is causing the delay, that is what we gathered"
"They promised paying, but this one account thing is affecting it, probably it is causing the delay, unlike before when they have separate accounts, but now they are operating a single account, they find it difficult to withdraw money" Adeyanju said.
The union has however said that it is still keeping its arms crossed and will react when the patience of its members elapses.
Comrade Adeyanju said that the NPA had claimed that it has started paying some of the workers at Port Harcourt ports; he however urged the management to make the payment faster and extend it to the rest of the workers.
"The assurance we are hearing is that they have started paying some, but we have not seen the money physically. One thing is for you to say that you are paying, but where is the money? The workers have been hearing it but they are yet to see any money" the Dockworkers President told Shipping Position Daily.
It would be recalled that the union earlier issued out a fourteen day ultimatum which has elapsed, but due to the promise of the NPA management and the involvement of the Ministry of Transport the strike action was shelved.
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