Minimum Wage: Kaduna Commences Payment – Official

Governor Uba Sani has commenced the implementation of the National Minimum Wage in Kaduna State, saying the Nigerian Labour Congress(NLC) ‘s claim that the state has defaulted was a misrepresentation.

A statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary, Malam Ibraheem Musa, on Sunday, decried NLC’s lumping of Kaduna State with others, describing it ‘’as grossly unfair because the least paid worker  received N72,000 as gross salary in November.’’

Malam Ibraheem argued that it would be unfair for the Kaduna State Government to spend almost all its revenue on consequential adjustments after paying the mandatory Minimum Wage.

The spokesman pleaded with NLC to exercise patience over the consequential adjustments pending the Government’s revenue improvement, adding that Governor Uba Sani is Labour-friendly.

‘’His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, has complied with the spirit and letter of the National Minimum Wage Law by paying the lowest paid civil servant N72,000 last month.

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‘’NLC is harping on the issue of consequential adjustment, but the labour body should realise that there is a difference between salary increment and Minimum Wage,’’ the statement explained.

The Chief Press Secretary said, ‘’Kaduna State receives an average of N8 billion from the centre every month from the Federal Account Allocation Committee(FAAC). It also generates around N4 bn monthly. That translates to N12 billion revenue monthly.’’

‘’However, the monthly wage bill has jumped from N5.4 billion to N6.3 billion with the implementation of the Minimum Wage last month. And there is also the deduction of N4 billion for loan payments every month.

‘’So, the wage bill and the deduction have gulped over  N10 million out of the total N12 billion revenue. That leaves only N2 billion for rural transformation, overhauling the health sector, revamping education and providing dividends of democracy to the people of Kaduna State,’’ he said.

“There are over 10 million people who are also entitled to the accrued revenue of Kaduna State. There are 84,827 civil servants in the state. So, it is unreasonable for the Government to spend over 90% of its revenue on just about !% of the population, ‘’ he explained.

The statement reminded that the Kaduna State Government has already bought buses for civil servants to convey to and from work free of charge as part of the palliatives to cushion the prevailing economic challenges.