Eid-el-Fitri : Ganduje under attack as civil servants celebrate Sallah without April salary

Civil servants in Kano State have criticised the state government for failing to pay their April salaries, which they say will dampen the celebration of Eid-el-Fitri festival in the predominantly Muslim state.

The civil servants joined Muslims from around the world to celebrate the Eid-el-Fitri on Monday – marking the end of 30 days of the Ramadan fast.

The workers accused Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of being insensitive to their plight.

One civil servant, who asked not to be named for fear of being victimised, said the governor has turned them into “corporate beggars, soliciting for financial support from their friends and family members to meet family needs.”

“We are being owed April’s salary, and the situation is very disturbing. For instance, I cannot provide Sallah food for my wife and children,” the civil servant said.

“I know of a colleague who could not get anything after belittling himself asking people for money.

“I learnt that the governor (Mr Ganduje) is in Saudi Arabia performing lesser Hajj, without even considering the plight of workers who, as himself, have many children to take care of in this Sallah celebration,” the civil servant added.

Another civil servant, a resident of the Fagge council area in Kano’s metropolis, told PREMIUM TIMES that workers are starving.

“It is not easy for us. The Sallah celebrations are bleak for all of us,” the distraught worker said. He said he could not afford to get Sallah clothes for his children.

He said the painful part about the delay in the payment of salaries was that the government did not deem it fit to inform workers of the reason they did not pay their salaries.

The state’s Commissioner for Information, Muhammad Garba, did not respond to calls and messages seeking comments.

The state’s chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Kabiru Minjibir, could not be immediately reached for comments through his known phone number.