Minimum wage: Can this be true, Jigawa not willing to pay minimum wage?
Zainab Tanimu
Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria
There is uncertainty in the air as to the acceptability, the payment of the federal government’s approved 70,000 new minimum wage by the Jigawa state government.
This doubt is not unconnected with the recently announced suspension by the Jigawa State Governor, Umar Namadi of its Special Adviser on Salary and Pension, Alhaji Bashir Ado over news making the rounds in some of the media on the alleged governor’s approval of the N70,000 new minimum wage for workers.
The development was contained in a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Bala Ibrahim, in Dutse, on Saturday saying the government viewed with serious concern, a statement circulating in various sections of the media alleging that the governor has approved N70,000 as a new minimum wage for workers in the state.
“This sounds embarrassing and premature as the committee headed by the Head of the State Civil Service, set up by the government to advise on the appropriate wage is yet to complete its assignment and submit a report,” Ibrahim said.
He explained that as a result of the development, the governor has approved the immediate suspension of Ado, pending findings of a committee set up under the chairmanship of the State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Bello Abdulkadir.
The SSG added that the committee, which was given two weeks to submit its report is to investigate the source, the actual content of the alleged statement, and the motive behind it.
But observers believe that the suspended special adviser was an insider and privy to some of the decisions on the salary and pension issues in the state.
It is believed that if the indications that workers in Jigawa state may not receive the approved federal government’s N70,000 minimum wage turns to be true, it means hopes of improved life of the workforce will remain dashed.
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