Thousands of teachers across the 104 federal unity schools in the country are contending with hard times as they are being owed salary arrears running into several millions of naira.

This is according to a report this morning by PUNCH, which said it gathered that those affected were workers employed from 2012 to 2016 and the arrears varied from one set to the other.

It said that while some teachers are owed 30 months’ salaries, others were not paid for one year.

“Some other workers, who could not bear the discomfort, were said to have left the system, forfeiting their money.

“Other teachers who spoke to our correspondent said initially, the delay in payment was attributed to the rigour in the documentation procedure.

“However, after they completed the process, they were surprised their accounts were still not credited,” the report said.

The report documented the cases of several victims.

It quoted the Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Ben Goong, as challenging teachers with proof of corruption against any officers of the ministry to file an official complaint.

While faulting the teachers for going to the press, he noted that issues of salaries were procedural and would be taken care of by the system, the report said.

It quoted Goong as saying: “Payment of salary is a procedural thing. A civil servant must understand that when he is employed by the Federal Civil Service, he is posted to an MDA, and from there he is documented and sent to the Federal Civil Service Commission, which captures his name in the IPPS. And then the process of the appropriation captures the new people coming in and the National Assembly does the appropriation. It is a long process.

“As a civil servant, if you not paid salary arrears, the right thing to do is to make a complaint. Nobody in any ministry has contact with money. All payments are made by the Central Bank of Nigeria into specific accountants of individuals who are working for the government. There is no way anybody can get your salary into his account.”

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