By Mohammed Yangida
Lafia
Governor Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa state has given the striking workers in the state alternatives to choose with regards to their demands.
He gave the options yesterday in Lafia while swearing-in the 11 newly appointed chairmen of the local government Interim Management Committees (IMCs) in the state.
He said the first option was whether to downsise the workers so that the remaining staff could continue to enjoy the 300 per cent above the minimum wage they were getting, or to pay in percentages which he said government would not like to do that one.
“We prefer to pay full salaries”, he said and gave payment of 300 per cent over and above minimum wage and stop all other projects and amenities in the state, while urging striking workers to return to work.
The governor also explained that the current economic downturn experienced across the country prompted his administration to appoint Interim Management Committees (IMC) for 11 local instead of opting for democratically elected chairmen and local government officials.
“We choose IMC due to the economic situation we found ourselves, the need for IMC chairmen is to cut costs as sustaining democratically elected chairmen would cost more”
Al-Makura maintained that the appointments were backed by section 2, sub section 1-4 of Nasarawa state local government (Amendment) law 2006.
He, therefore, urged them to brace the responsibility thrust on them, look inwards and evolve creative ways of diversifying the economy of the state and enjoined them to embark on people oriented projects that would promote the living standard of the people at the grass roots.
