As Nigerian workers today join their counterparts across the world to celebrate the 2016 May Day, gloom, frustration, bitterness, anger, lamentation, and despair are not enough to describe their mood as not more than 10 out of the country’s 36 states have fully paid workers’ salaries and allowances up to date.

A report this morning bySunday Vanguardshowed that only Edo, Lagos, Delta, Ebonyi, Anambra, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Kano and Enugu states have paid their workers’ salaries and allowances up to April. However, Rivers State has paid March salary and pension up to February, Borno State has paid up to March with the exception of its Hosing Corporation workers, while Ogun State, though paid salary, has neither remitted pension deductions from workers’ salaries for months, and has not paid gratuities since 2012.

The report listed the indebted states as Ekiti, Kwara, Kaduna, Osun, Plateau, Ondo, Abia, Bayelsa, Oyo, Imo, Kogi and Benue.

News Expressreports that the failure to pay workers is persisting despite the bailout of states by the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO)

•Photo shows NLC President Ayuba Wabba.