Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State, on Wednesday said that the state government would inaugurate a committee to discuss with the organised labour on how to implement the new N30, 000 minimum wage.
Bello, who was not specific on when the committee would be inaugurated, made this known in Minna during the 2019 May Day celebration.
“I have listened to the demands of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) chairman. We will not promise to solve all your problems in one day but to take them according to priority.
“We will inaugurate a committee to initiate discussion with the organised labour on how to implement the N30, 000 new minimum wage recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari,” he said.
He said that government was making plans to increase its Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) to cater for workers welfare and development of the state.
“As we plan to increase our IGR we will see how we can make you comfortable,” he said.
The Governor said that the state would cut unnecessary spending in the system to be able to maintain the new minimum wage.
He advised civil servants against financial corruption in the system to enable government carry out meaningful development.
“We crave your indulgence and support to help us succeed in this direction,” he said.
Bello said that in the past four years Government has spent N25.7 billion on payment of gratuities and pensions of retirees.
On payment of incomplete salary affecting some workers recently, he directed the state Head of Civil Service, Alhaji Yabagi Sule to ensure that the mistake was corrected before the end of May.
“The Head of Service told me that the mistake was a computer error. If the error repeats itself by the end of this month it will be no longer computer error but human error,” he said.
He noted that the state financial record was a public document and directed the relevant authorities to always publicise it toward carrying the people along.
The Governor pledged that government would continue to train and retrain civil servants for efficient service delivery.
He urged the workers and other members of the public to support government in the efforts to develop the state, especially in the area of security.
“In the recent times we noticed some bad movements in our state, we want all of us to support the security agencies by reporting such movements,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Yakubu Garba, NLC Chairman in the state, demanded for improved welfare package for the workers, especially the implementation of the new minimum wage to enable them perform optimally.
“The organised labour is confident that Mr. Governor will redeem his earlier commitment on the new national minimum wage by paying the approved N30, 000 in the month of April, 2019 as he had earlier promised to implement whatever is agreed as National Minimum Wage,” he said.
Garba also urged Government to put necessary machinery in place to address infrastructural decay in the state.
This year’s May Day was tagged “Another 100 years of Struggle for Jobs, Dignity and Social Justice in Nigeria.”
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