The Kaduna State Government has commenced the implementation of the new national minimum wage, with the least-paid worker in the state receiving N72,000 as gross salary in November.
The development contradicts claims by the Nigerian Labour Congress that the Kaduna State Government has defaulted in the payment of the new minimum wage.
The PUNCH reports that many states agreed to pay above the N70,000 minimum wage, with Kaduna State offering its workers N72,000 as minimum wage.
Despite the state offering to pay the approved N72,000 minimum wage, the state chapter of the NLC confirmed its participation in the planned nationwide strike by the mother body.
The state’s chairman of the NLC, Ayuba Suleiman, confirmed the state’s participation to one of our correspondents on Saturday.
When asked if the NLC was prepared to embark on the nationwide strike, Suleiman replied, “Yes, we are set for the strike.”
However, a statement released to newsmen on Sunday by Malam Ibraheem Musa, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Uba Sani, insisted it was “a misrepresentation for Nigerian Labour Congress to claim that the state has defaulted” in the payment of the new minimum wage.
Musa noted that the state government has complied with the spirit and letter of the National Minimum Wage Law.
“His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, has complied with the spirit and letter of the National Minimum Wage Law, by paying the lowest paid civil servant N72,000 last month,” he said.
He added that the NLC has been pushing for consequential adjustments but that the state government argued that there’s a difference between salary increments and the minimum wage.
Musa explained that the state government received an average of N8 billion from the Federal Account Allocation Committee and generated around N4 billion monthly, totalling N12 billion in revenue.
However, he continued that with the implementation of the minimum wage, the monthly wage bill had increased from N5.4 billion to N6.3 billion, and there’s also a N4 billion deduction for loan payments every month.
This, he said, leaves only N2 billion for rural transformation, healthcare, education, and other public services in the state.
“It will be unfair for Kaduna State Government to spend almost all its revenue on consequential adjustments after paying the mandatory minimum wage.
“There are over 10 million people who are also entitled to the accrued revenue of Kaduna State. There are 84,827 civil servants in the state. So, it is unreasonable for the Government to spend over 90% of its revenue on just about 1% of the population,” he added
Musa urged the NLC to exercise patience over the consequential adjustments, pending when the state government’s revenue improves.
“Governor Uba Sani is Labour-friendly. He has demonstrated this by providing buses for civil servants to commute to work free of charge, as part of the palliatives to cushion the prevailing economic challenges,” he said. (PUNCH)
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