PAUL EJIME, Lagos | Wednesday 8.00pm.
THE secretariat staff of the 16-nation Economic Community of West Africa States has presented a list of demands, including more pay and better service conditions, to the organisation’s chairman, Nigerian military ruler General Abdulsalami Abubakar.
Staff approached Abubakar as he was visiting the Abuja Secretariat of the 23-year-old organisation to assess preparations for next week’s summit in the Nigerian capital. Demands include adequate staff accommodation, staff children’s schools and a pay rise in line with the high cost of living in the country. The Ecowas staff were recently relocated from Lagos to Abuja, which houses organisation’s ultra-modern headquarters.
Abubakar revealed that it had been necessary to give the Ecowas Executive Secretary, Lansana Kouyate, financial assistance with which to pay the secretariat staff their September salary. He traced the financial crisis to failure by member countries to pay their assessed contributions.
The organisation, which has an annual budget of less than $10-million, is believed to be owed more than $40-million in arrears of contributions. — PANA