The Kaduna State Authorities has commenced the implementation of the brand new nationwide minimal wage, with the least-paid employee within the state receiving N72,000 as gross wage in November.
The event contradicts claims by the Nigerian Labour Congress that the Kaduna State Authorities has defaulted within the fee of the brand new minimal wage.
The PUNCH reviews that many states agreed to pay above the N70,000 minimal wage, with Kaduna State providing its employees N72,000 as minimal wage.
Regardless of the state providing to pay the accepted N72,000 minimal wage, the state chapter of the NLC confirmed its participation within the deliberate nationwide strike by the mom physique.
The state’s chairman of the NLC, Ayuba Suleiman, confirmed the state’s participation to certainly one of our correspondents on Saturday.
When requested if the NLC was ready to embark on the nationwide strike, Suleiman replied, “Sure, we’re set for the strike.”
Nonetheless, a press release launched 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 say that the state has defaulted” within the fee of the brand new minimal wage.
Musa famous that the state authorities has complied with the spirit and letter of the Nationwide Minimal Wage Regulation.
“His Excellency, the Govt Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, has complied with the spirit and letter of the Nationwide Minimal Wage Regulation, by paying the bottom paid civil servant N72,000 final month,” he stated.
He added that the NLC has been pushing for consequential changes however that the state authorities argued that there’s a distinction between wage increments and the minimal wage.
Musa defined that the state authorities obtained a mean of N8 billion from the Federal Account Allocation Committee and generated round N4 billion month-to-month, totalling N12 billion in income.
Nonetheless, he continued that with the implementation of the minimal wage, the month-to-month wage invoice had elevated from N5.4 billion to N6.3 billion, and there’s additionally a N4 billion deduction for mortgage funds each month.
This, he stated, leaves solely N2 billion for rural transformation, healthcare, schooling, and different public companies within the state.
“It is going to be unfair for Kaduna State Authorities to spend nearly all its income on consequential changes after paying the obligatory minimal wage.
“There are over 10 million people who find themselves additionally entitled to the accrued income of Kaduna State. There are 84,827 civil servants within the state. So, it’s unreasonable for the Authorities to spend over 90% of its income on nearly 1% of the inhabitants,” he added
Musa urged the NLC to train endurance over the consequential changes, pending when the state authorities’s income improves.
“Governor Uba Sani is Labour-friendly. He has demonstrated this by offering buses for civil servants to commute to work freed from cost, as a part of the palliatives to cushion the prevailing financial challenges,” he stated.
