Workers have continuously accused labour leaders of collecting bribe in cash and kind to sign the “slave wage agreement” and threatened to abandon their leaders to take their destiny into their own hands.

But the Special Adviser to Gov. Godswill Akpabio on labour and productivity matters, Mr Ime Umoh, last week invited the labour leaders and dispelled the rumour that the state government “settled” the NLC executive members to agree to shortchange the entire workers.

Umoh, who until appointment two months ago, was a labour leader and acting secretary of the state NLC, however appealed to the labour leaders for time as government was prepared to look into the minimum wage issue again.
He lamented that the unhealthy government–labour relations in recent times occasioned by the minimum wage controversies has affected his schedule of duty, especially as regards the benefits labour could attract from government.

Umoh reasoned that the labour in the state should at least wait to see what other states in the oil producing areas would pay before jumping to the conclusion that Akwa Ibom pays the least, even less than Cross River, in the South-South -geo-political zone.
According to him, it was only Akwa Ibom that has agreed to pay the minimum wage from April 2011, which he said would still give workers more money.

But reacting for labour leaders, the state chairman of NLC chairman, Mr Unyime Usoro, said the entire labour in the state was disappointed with the final table that the state government brought out after the minimum wage agreement had already be signed.
Usoro lamented that instead of coming out to appeal to workers to give them time to readjust the table, state government officials were rather defending the table and making mockery of the labour leaders who signed the agreement.

“We are not safe even among our workers. Government officials are saying that we signed an agreement and that an agreement is an agreement. But they should also know that the agreement we signed with them had no tenure. And when you signed any agreement and later realise that there were certain information that were hidden from you at the time of signing the agreement, such agreement becomes invalid.
“Government should go public to say that it has not given us the labour leaders N50 million to subvert the general interest of the workers in the state as published in some newspapers in the state.”

Our correspondent learnt that there was no agreement with regard to whether labour would wait for government to make up its mind to review the minimum wage table or go on strike, as the meeting ended deadlocked.
Meanwhile The Sun learnt that due to the minimum wage imbroglio, workers in the state have yet to receive their last month salary even as that of August was paid based on the old rate.
The situation has turned the economy of the state which is still civil service oriented, into gloom as workers find it difficult to meet their responsibilities to their families, especially as the new academic year kicks off.

As it stands now, no state government in Nigeria seems to have paid the minimum wage.