Benue, Delta To Pay N70,000 Minimum Wage

Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia, has declared that his administration is ready to pay the N70,000 minimum wage agreed by the federal government and organised labour.

The chief press secretary to the governor, Tersoo Kula, told our correspondent in Makurdi at the weekend quoted the governor as appealing to the federal government to increase the state’s allocation to enable him pay salaries without hindrance.

According to him, increasing the minimum wage simply means something needs to be added to the allocation.

The governor in one of his interviews in Makurdi had said his administration had blocked all leakages meant to embezzle state funds.

He also said his administration was focused and had put up measures to make things function.

“With the harsh economy, things have stagnated but with all the plans and measures that are in place for things to function, things are moving, even our Internally Generated Revenue has increased.

“It’s now left for us to close all loopholes to see how much we can cash in to do other things even to pay salaries.

“We can pay (minimum wage) with our focus with all purpose and intent what is agreed by the federal government, we the sub nationals should be able to queue in

“Civil servants are the engine room of every state, without the workforce no government will have centeredness of governance so we need to pay our civil servants with what is approved by the federal government and organised labour,” Alia stated.

In a related development, the Delta State government says it will certainly not take the back seat in ensuring that all efforts and options are explored to pay the new minimum wage.

The commissioner for information, Dr Ifeanyi Osuoza, said yesterday in an interview with our correspondent that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori was fully committed to the welfare of workers.

He said the administration which has continued the tradition of Delta as a labour friendly state, would ensure that all measures are be put in place to see that the new minimum wage is paid.

On whether the state government would need more allocation from the federation account, he said President Tinubu himself had assured that efforts would be made to support the private sector and sub-national entities to ensure that they can afford to pay the new minimum wage.