BY ANKELI EMMANUEL, Sokoto
Sokoto state Governor, Ahmed Aliyu has approved the commencement of the payment of the N70,000 new national minimum wage to the sstate’s workers, Abubakar Bawa has confirmed.
Bawa, who is the Press Secretary to the governor made this disclosure Sunday in a signed press release where he assured that workers will begin to get the increased salaries from Monday 27th.
According to Bawa, “the payment of the new minimum wage will cover the state civil servants, local governments and LGEA staff across the state.”
In a related development, the state chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has vowed to support the state’s initiative by fishing out ghost workers from the system as much as possible.
Giving the assurance in his office after commending the state governor for taking the lead in the implementation of the new minimum wage, the state NLC chairman, Comrade Abdullahi Jungle described the government as passionate about human beings in the state.
Continuing, Bawa, in his statement, said the governor’s approval of the new national minimum wage payment was not only in compliance with the federal ggovernmen’s directive but also in fulfillment of his promise of improved welfare.
Part of Bawa’s press release read: “With the commencement of the payment of this new national minimum wage, we expect a renewed commitment, hard work, punctuality and above all, seriousness from our civil servants.”
While promising to sustain the prompt payment of salaries from the 19th to the 22nd of every month, the governor assured that his administration will continue to remain workers-friendly.
Bawa further noted that the state government under governor Ahmed Aliyu has set aside N500 million monthly to pay the backlog of unpaid gratuity, in additional to another monthly N300 million to pay those that retired from 2023 to date.
“The idea, according to government, is to ensure that by the time the present administration completes its tenure, no civil servant would be owed any gratuity by the state government,” Bawa enthused.
Reacting to questions from newsmen in his office, Comrade Jungle, lauded the Sokoto state Governor for not only ensuring the payment of the new minimum wage but also largely fulfilling his campaign promises.
While calling on civil servants in the state to reciprocate the gesture by rededicating themselves to their jobs, Comrade Jungle reaffirmed that the new minimum wage payment is a giant stride that all must appreciate.
“We are happy that Sokoto is among the first set of states to commence the implementation of the N70,000 new minimum wage. For me and many others, that is something we should be grateful for because, as we speak almost 28 states of the federation are still using the old salary structure.”
Commenting on the ongoing verification of workers exercise, Comrade Jungle, who is also a member of the committee set up by the state government for the purpose, said they will strive to sanitize the workforce by fishing out ghost workers as much as possible.
Comrade Jungle who disclosed that the verification exercise was not targeted at witch-hunting, added however that, state government is committed to ensuring credible verification, hence no interference from any government officials.
“In the process of our verification today, we have identified 6 ghost workers and do away with them and we will continue to try our best.”
He further appealed to civil servants in the state to set aside their political differences and support the governor Ahmed Aliyu led government towards moving the state forward.
