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Kogi Gov: All States Can Afford To Pay N18,000 - Politics - Nairaland

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Kogi Gov: All States Can Afford To Pay N18,000 by orble: 12:11pm On Jul 25, 2011
A dissenting voice from the governors’ rank came Sunday from Kogi State Governor Ibrahim Idris, who said contrary to the impression being created by his colleagues, state governments could indeed pay the N18,000 minimum wage.
However, the strike embarked upon by the workers in Ondo State under the aegis of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JNC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over the new wage entered the third week Sunday.
Idris said his administration was putting machinery in motion to pay the new wage to its workers in agreement with the decision of state governors at their recent meeting on the matter.

The governor, who disclosed this in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, at the wedding ceremony of his son, Abdulrasheed, also told journalists that the decision to pay the new wage was taken in Abuja when the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) met recently to review the matter.
“All the 36 state governors have agreed in their meeting to pay the N18,000 minimum wage.
“I believe all state governments will pay the N18,000 minimum wage. In fact, in Kogi State, we have concluded deliberations on it since last month to pay our workers.”

Idris also said he was against any amnesty for members of Boko Haram until they embrace dialogue with the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, there seems to be no end to the crisis between the Ondo State Government and workers in the public service as neither of the parties is ready to shift ground in order to end the strike embarked upon by the workers over the computation of the new national minimum wage of N18,000.

While Governor Olusegun Mimiko at a stakeholders’ forum convened to persuade the workers to call off the strike declared that the government would not negotiate unless the strike was suspended, the labour leaders said they would not bulge until the government returned the circular that stopped the payment of the N14,000 salary relativity.
The government offices therefore remained closed for the third consecutive week with its attendant toll on the economy of the state.
The most affected people are the self-employed, particularly the market men and women, who have been complaining of low patronage due to lack of money in circulation in the state.

Also, commercial vehicle operators are also lamenting low patronage due to the long strike which has also affected public primary and secondary schools just as operators of relaxation spots are also complaining of low sales.
The academic calendar of the public schools may be altered as many of them have not started their promotion examinations before the workers, including teachers, went on strike.

Though, the government hired private trucks and made special arrangements to clear refuse from streets particularly the major Adesida/Oyemekun Road, refuse dumps in various markets have been overfilled due to the strike.
Various groups, including religious organisations, have been appealing to both the government and the labour leaders to shift grounds on their decisions in the interest of the state.

In a telephone interview, Chairman of the NLC, Ondo State Council, Comrade Bosede Daramola, said since the government had refused to invite them for discussion, the labour leaders could not direct the workers to go back to work.
The National Minimum Wage Act, signed by President Goodluck Jonathan on March 22 has generated a lot of controversy and heated debates between government and the organised labour.
Last week, a planned three-day warning strike was at the last minute put off by labour after horse-trading with the government on the matter.

THISDAY gathered at the weekend that part of the consensus reached between the governors and the organised labour over the implementation of the law is that the states will in the first instance focus primarily on implementing the law to cover civil servants within the public sector cadre of levels 01 to 06.

The Federal Government had embraced the same option as President Goodluck Jonathan at a meeting with the organised labour in Abuja last Monday, said government would only capture those in the lower wage bracket in the minimum wage net this year and deferred the payment to other categories of staff from Level 07-16 to January 2012.

Shedding more light on the issue, Chairman of NGF, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, told THISDAY on Saturday that under the relativity agreement NGF had with labour, each state made it clear that it would consider its financial peculiarities, as indicated by its monthly take home from the Federation Account and internally generated revenue to determine how and when it would bring workers from Level 07-17 into the minimum wage net.

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