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The Kaduna State Government has began the implementation of new national minimum wage.
The least paid worker in the State received ₦72,000 as gross salary in November.
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Uba Sani, Malam Ibraheem Musa disclosed this statement on Sunday.
The development contradicts claims by the Nigerian Labour Congress that the Kaduna State Government has defaulted in the payment of the new minimum wage.
However, Musa insisted that the state has not defaulted in the payment of the new minimum wage.
He disclosed that the state government has complied with the spirit and letter of the National Minimum Wage Law.
“His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, has complied with the spirit and letter of the National Minimum Wage Law, by paying the lowest paid civil servant N72,000 last month,” he said.
Musa explained that the state government received an average of ₦8 billion from the Federal Account Allocation Committee and generated around ₦4 billion monthly, totalling ₦12 billion in revenue.
However, he continued that with the implementation of the minimum wage, the monthly wage bill had increased from ₦5.4 billion to N6.3 billion, and there’s also a ₦4 billion deduction for loan payments every month.
This, he said, leaves only ₦2 billion for rural transformation, healthcare, education, and other public services in the state.
“It will be unfair for Kaduna State Government to spend almost all its revenue on consequential adjustments after paying the mandatory minimum wage.
“There are over 10 million people who are also entitled to the accrued revenue of Kaduna State. There are 84,827 civil servants in the state. So, it is unreasonable for the Government to spend over 90% of its revenue on just about 1% of the population,” he added
Musa urged the NLC to exercise patience over the consequential adjustments, pending when the state government’s revenue improves.
“Governor Uba Sani is Labour-friendly. He has demonstrated this by providing buses for civil servants to commute to work free of charge, as part of the palliatives to cushion the prevailing economic challenges,” he said.
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