Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti has announced the establishment of a Committee that would implement the payment of the New National Minimum Wage to Abia Workers following the recent Federal Governments increase of ₦70,000.
Governor Otti made the announcement on Friday, during the August Edition of the Monthly Media Parley tagged, “Governor Otti Speaks”, held at Banquet Hall, Government House, Umuahia.
Recall that Governor Otti had on May 1st 2024, during the Workers Day Celebration assured that his administration would pay the agreed Minimum Wage once the Federal Government concludes negotiation with the NLC.
Governor Otti emphasized that the Committee set by government is working closely with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC) to develop modalities that aligns with the state’s limited resources while the state Government awaits further clarifications from the Federal Government on the way forward.
“I want to state that we have already set up a committee to look into the issue of minimum wage while we still expect some more clarification from the center.
“My team, together with the Nigeria Labour Congress and Labour generally are already engaging so that we can work out a solution that is practicable and that is also maintained with the meagre resources of the state”.
The Governor who assured that his administration is not taking the issue of payment of the New Minimum Wage lightly, said that it remains a top priority of his government.
He also pointed out that provisions are being made to accommodate upward adjustment of all salaries across board in the state’s budget, with plans for a budget review and virement after the half-year.
“We are not keeping quite, we have it at the front burner and as we even prepare for a review of the budget after the half year and for virement, we are already making provisions for increase in salary on the basis of the new minimum wage.
“You know the minimum wage announcement was just about the was just about the minimum wage of 70 thousand. What that means also is that every other person’s salary will go up so it’s not going to be just the minimum wage but everyother salary would be adjusted accordingly“, Otti said.
The Governor reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to improving the living standards of Abians, with a focus on key sectors such as Health, Education, Agriculture, and Digital Economy amongst others and pledged that his government would continue to prioritize the needs and aspirations of the people in these critical areas.
On the policy of deploying Civil Servants to classrooms, Governor Otti clarified that the initiative is still in place but has been refined to accommodate only individuals with teaching backgrounds.
“To also add some sweetener to it, we are discussing a discriminatory compensation package for teachers generally and we have also increased the retirement age already from 60- 65 years”, the Governor noted.
He also revealed that the state government would soon increase the retirement age for Nurses in the state from 60 to 65 years.
