The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Anambra chapter, has kicked against the “illegal deductions” from civil servants’ salaries for the recapitalisation of Ndi-Olu Micro Finance Bank Limited (NMFB).
The state Chairman of the party, Ndubisi Nwobu, said at a news conference in Awka on Friday that the party was worried by the development.
Mr Nwobu said the state government ordered a three-month deduction of varying percentages from workers’ salaries for the bank’s recapitalisation.
He quoted a memo said to have been written by the Head of the Civil Service on March 8 where the accountant-general and secretary of Joint Account Allocation Committee were directed to make such deductions as “contributions to the stabilisation of the troubled bank”.
Mr Nwobu said the memo arose following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directive to all microfinance banks in the country to raise their capital base before April 30.
He said the memo directed percentage deductions as follow: Level 1-3, N500; Level 4-7, N1, 200; Level 8, N2,300; Level 9-10, N2,250; and Level 12-13, N4, 500; Level 14-16, N5,000; and Level 17, N5,200.
He said, “PDP is genuinely concerned about the welfare of Anambra civil servants, who are coerced to part with certain percentages of meager take-home salaries.
“One begins to wonder why the workers, whose salaries were deducted from March, will continue to be exploited for three months when the CBN’s directive was meant to be implemented before April 30.
“It is on record that Anambra civil servants belong to the class of least paid workers in Nigeria.