JOHN ADAMS, Minna
Niger State governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani-Bello, on Tuesday reassured the state chapter of the organised labour of his administration’s readiness to pay the proposed N30,000 new minimum wage.
The governor said the welfare of the state civil servants remains a major priority of his administration, saying that they too remain the major driver of every development.
Governor Sani-Bello spoke in Minna when he received members of the state chapter of organised labour who joined their counterparts across the country to protest the non-transmission of the bill for the implementation of the new national minimum wage to the National Assembly for legislation by President Mohammadu Buhari.
The state chapter of the organised labour had earlier embarked on a peaceful protest, marching through the major streets of Minna before terminating their effort at the Government House.
The governor while receiving the union members, pointed out that there was the need to look into how worker’s welfare would be improved in order to improve the standard of living and service delivery in the state.
He assured the placard-carrying protesters of his administration’s readiness to comply with the Federal government as soon as the final nod was granted on the minimum wage.
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“I am 100 percent in support of the need to look at whatever is happening and how to improve the life and standard of living of our people
“I have no problem with the implementation of the payment of N30,000 minimum wage to our workers and I believe this matter will soon be put to rest.
“The welfare of our workers is something we have to look into properly,” he said.
According to him, “Niger State has already started showing commitment by increasing salary by 25 percent recently and we have just released the sum of N3 billion for the payment of pension and gratuity to dead workers. It is on record that death gratitude has not been paid in this state since 2004, until 2016 that we first paid and another one released last month.”
He told the workers that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is also concerned about the welfare of civil servants in the country, saying that the president had made provision for the N30,000 minimum wage in the 2019 budget.
Governor Sani-Bello then assured the workforce in the state that his administration would do everything humanly possible to improve their welfare.
Earlier, NLC National President, Comrade Ayuba Warah represented by the Head of Public Affairs of the Congress, Comrade Benson Upah and the state Chairman, Comrade Idris Ndako who led the protest to the Government House in their respective remarks, appealed for urgent implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers adding that civil servants are partners in progress and are also the engine room that drive the country’s economy hence the need to accord priority to their welfare.