Governors resolve to pay 18,000 Naira minimum wage

Governors resolve to pay 18,000 Naira minimum wage
Qasim Akinreti, Lagos

Nearly all the state governors in Nigerian 36 states have resolved to pay the 18,000 Naira minimum wage as agreed by the Nigerian government.

Governors in Ebonyi, Kano, Bornu, Rivers and Edo states have said they will pay the eighteen thousand naira minimum wage to their workers.

This assurance was given at this year’s May Day celebration.

According to Governor Fashola of Lagos state, his “administration is committed to the payment of the new wage as it has started paying this month”.

New revenue formula

He said that the Nigerian government will have to review the revenue sharing formula to accommodate the new realities, warning that states might only be able to pay salaries in the public sector without fulfilling its electoral promises.

In Ebonyi state, South-south Nigeria, Governor Elechi said that workers have contributed immensely to the success of his administration and deserve all incentives that will motivate them for greater efficiency.

Mr. Elechi thanked them for voting for him during the governorship election, saying that his government would always collaborate with them for the overall benefit of the state.

He promised that his administration would in its second tenure create new employment opportunities to reduce unemployment.

Immediate Payment

To the Akwa Ibom state government in southern Nigeria, companies in the state have been directed to commence immediate payment of 18,000 Naira minimum wage.

Governor Godswill Akpabio disclosed this on Sunday in Uyo the state capital at the 2011 May Day celebration and thanksgiving service organised by the Akwa Ibom chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC and Trade Union Congress.

He assured workers in the state that the new minimum wage, being implemented with effect from April 2011, will come with the May salaries.

Akpabio said workers are the heart, the soul and the life blood of the state and stressed that his administration would remain labour-friendly.

The state chairman of the NLC, Unyime Usoro, commended the government for its decision to pay the new minimum wage and arrears of gratuities to retired primary school teachers.

Additional report from NAN