EXTRA: I won re-election because I pay salaries, says Lalong

Simon Lalong, governor of Plateau state, says workers in the state rewarded him with another term in office because of prompt payment of salaries.

Lalong spoke at a send-off party organised by the state council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in honour of Jibrin Banchir, its immediate past chairman.

NAN reports that Banchir has been appointed by Lalong as his special adviser on labour matters.

The governor, who commended the workers for their support especially for his re-election, promised to sustain payment of salaries and initiate more worker-friendly programmes.

“When we cleared salary arrears and sustained payment of salaries, some people were saying that payment of salaries is not an achievement and I kept on asking what about nonpayment of salaries and nobody answered me,” he said.

“I was sleeping one day and some people called to ask me to wake and hear what the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, was saying about me on the television.

“When I woke up, he has finished but somebody recorded it and played it for me, Wabba was raining praises on me for constant payment of salaries and pensions.

“And I said, what else do I need? This is 50 percent of campaign coming from the labour leader.

“During my party’s screening, other governors were sweating but when I got in, the comrade chairman told me that Mr President made it a condition that any governor who will scale through the primaries must be one that is paying salaries.

“And my case was easy, I took a bow and left.”

Lalong said to make working conditions more conducive, his administration is working towards acquiring land in all local government areas of the state to build affordable houses for workers.

He added that regular payment of salaries has created an opportunity for 700 civil servants in the state to access N1 million mortgage each to either build or renovate their houses.

The governor said he was a member of the tripartite committee that came up with N30,000 new minimum wage for workers and would not hesitate to pay it when it becomes operational in the country.