Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state has revealed that the state government has already implemented N70, 500 as new national minimum wage for workers in the state.
He stated this while appearing as a guest on Arise TV monitored in Lafia Wednesday night.
The governor stated that workers in the state went on strike over the consequential adjustment that followed the implementation of the new minimum wage, not because his administration has failed to implement the new national minimum wage as claimed in some quarters.
He pointed out that Nasarawa state does not have the resources to almost double the salary of a worker already earning above the N70, 500 in the name of consequential adjustment.
“Nasarawa state has already implemented the new minimum wage. We agreed on N70, 500. The challenge we are having with labour in Nasarawa state is not about the minimum wage but about the consequential adjustment.
“They are referring to other people who are earning more than 70, 000. How much to give them as increment. For instance, somebody who is earning N30, 000 as minimum wage today is getting N70, 500. That is an increment of 40, 500.
“Some of people that are earning probably far more than that are also expecting some percentage over 100 percent. For example, somebody earning N800, 000 is expecting us to pay at least another N800, 000. That is the part we said we cannot do. Nasarawa state does not have the resources to pay,” he stated.
While appealing for understanding, Governor Sule drew the attention of the striking workers to the fact that Nasarawa state is among the few states in the country that are up to date in the implementation of promotions for civil servants.
