As workers in Abia State demand for the immediate implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage, the state government has announced that it has established an implementation of committee to work out the modalities for its payment.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
The governor of the state, Dr Alex Otti who dropped this hint in a media chat with journalists in Umuahia said the committee will work closely with the organized labour in the state, adding that their assignment is to ensure easy and smooth implementation wage to workers in line with the limited resources of Abia State.
The media parley by the governor tagged: “Governor Otti Speaks to Abians” serves as a forum to x-ray the activities of his government every month.
The governor was asked when the state would begin the implementation of N70,000 minimum wage as he had on May 1, 2024 during the Workers Day declared that his government will implement without delay any agreed amount between labour and Federal Government.
Reacting to his vow, Otti said, “I want to state that we have already set up a committee to look into the issue of minimum wage while we still expect some more clarifications from the central government.
“My team, together with the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress are already engaging in the process so that we can work out a solution that’s practicable and that’s also maintained with the meager resources of the state”.
He however stressed that provisions are being made to accommodate upward adjustment of salaries across board in the state budget.
His word, “We’re not keeping quiet, we have it at the front burner and as we even prepare for review of the budget after the half year and virement, we’re already making provisions for increase in salary on the basis of the new minimum wage.
“The minimum wage announcement was just about the minimum wage of N70,000. What that also means is that every other person’s salary will go up; so it’s not going to be just minimum wage for particular group, but everybody’s salary would be adjusted”.
On the reported grant of N570 billion to states by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, Governor Otti stated that no state received that sum and clarified that the fund was part of the World Bank-assisted NG-CARES project which started before his administration, adding that it is a programme for Result Intervention.
According to the Abia governor, the amount received by states out of the N570billion was not a grant to fight hunger but a World Bank facilitated intervention loan to help states in Nigeria with COVID-19 Recovery and that after the World Bank had verified the amount spent by any state on the pandemic, it reimbursed the state through the platform provided by the Federal Government.
The Governor declared, “The Federal Government did not release fund to fight hunger, it’s a loan by the World Bank that’s repayable”.
On the outcome of the commission of enquiry that probed the former Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoronkwo, the governor revealed that the commission has submitted its findings to government and that the findings show that the former commissioner was not involved in any financial impropriety, but did violate some administrative procedures unbecoming of a public officer.
“We tried to see how we can handle it but she preferred to resign and we had to let her go”, he opined.
Governor Otti also spoke on the administration’s plans to organize a local government election and explained that plans are in top gear to conduct the council election in the state as soon as possible.
According to him, the government will soon approach the Abia House of Assembly to put certain modalities in place preparatory to the conduct of the poll, stressing that as soon as the House finishes its assignment the timetable the election will be announced.
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