Kwara govt to pay N30,000 minimum wage

Kwara State government has agreed to pay N30,000 minimum wage to its workers as negotiation continues with the organized labour in the state.

This is just as the state government directs workers currently operating microfinance banks for their salary account to immediately open accounts in commercial banks to ease salary payment.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Tuesday, the state commissioner for Finance, Mrs. Florence Oyeyemi, said that the directive became imperative in order to fast track monthly payment of salary and avoid technical errors which could cause unnecessary delay in getting workers’ entitlements as at when due.

“All Kwara state civil servants are mandated to open a salary account with commercial banks between February 5 and 18, 2020 for the purpose of salary payments, as payment will no longer be made to any Microfinance bank account moving forward”, she said.

The Finance commissioner also said that the issue is in line with the agreements in place as negotiations on the payment of the new minimum wage reached an advanced stage.

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“Th Kwara state government has agreed to pay the N30,000 minimum wage, which means no worker in the state will earn less than N30,000. But where we are now, regarding the ongoing negotiation with the labour, is on the issue of consequential adjustment down the ladder of salary structure. You know we have a table already. The law states that the least worker must not earn below N30,000. On our table, those earning below N30,000 now are between Level 1 to 6. We’ve worked and approved theirs. But because of a smooth movement down the ladder, we have to ensure that others are taken care of in terms of consequential adjustment. The percentage of positive change of senior civil servants on level 7 to 17 is what we are negotiating on now.

“We’ve presented the table to the labour union, and we’re expecting a feedback. The payment will start as soon as we finalize negotiation on the matter and it will be communicated to the general public”, she said.

Meanwhile, the organized labour, under the aegis of Joint Kwara Labour Congress (KJLC) has given the state governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, 14 days ultimatum effective from January 31 this year, to intervene in the ongoing negotiation for payment of minimum wage in the state.

The organized labour also enjoined its members to observe three days fasting and prayers between February 5 and 7, for their demands on the minimum wage to be met.

In a communiqué jointly signed by Chairmen of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiation Committee (JNC), Aliyu Issa Ore, Kolawole Olumoh and Saliu Suleiman respectively, they said that “the movement in Kwara state wishes to debunk the submission of the Commissioner of Finance that the committee has concluded on the table for the new minimum wage.

“The labour representatives at the committee rejected the table presented by the government in totality and wish to inform the workers that its meeting ended in deadlock”, the communique said.