?Labour movements in Nasarawa State have issued a one week ultimatum to the state government to reverse the new tax system, which it recently introduced in the state?or face industrial action.
In a statement jointly signed by the state NLC Chairman, Mr Asoloko Maku, and his TUC counterpart, Mr Agbashi Gabriel, the unions condemned the new?tax regime.
They also condemned the removal of the names of some civil servants?from the payroll, as well as the demotion of others with effect from August 2012.
“We condemn this illegality in its entirety and call for immediate reversal to the status quo before August salaries are paid,” the statement said.
The unions also called for the removal of the Commissioner for Finance, Prof. Mohammad Mainoma, for allegedly “misleading the state government and creating unnecessary tension in the polity''.
This they claimed he did with his unilateral imposition of the killer tax regime in the state”.
They?accused the government of insensitivity to the plight of civil servants by its failure to respond to the legitimate demands of workers based on an earlier agreement on minimum wage implementation.?
When contacted, the Commissioner of Finance, Mainoma, said that the tax table in use in the state was not the one approved by the Personal Income Tax Act 2011.
He also said that the state government realised that the salary table was distorted, and about 2,580 names were included in the states payroll and had to be verified.
Mainoma said that those behind the distortion and those, who would not want the verification, were those trying to pitch labour against the state government.
He said that government would still dialogue with labour to get them to appreciate the situation, adding that the verification might be concluded before this month's salaries would be paid. (NAN)?