The governor of Anambra State has appointed a committee to investigate the minimum wage problem facing state government employees.
Following their meeting with the governor on Wednesday evening, the state chairmen of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Humphrey Nwafor and Chris Ogbonna, respectively, revealed this during a joint news briefing at the Government House.
On Tuesday, Anambra State government officials, including Governor Chukwuma Soludo, and union leaders met to resolve long-standing disputes over pay, benefits, and working conditions.
The governor was briefed on seven subjects, including a contributory pension, a minimum wage, Labour House, and many more, according to Nwafor, who spoke to reporters following the meeting.
Finally, we’re pleased to report that all the difficulties were resolved in a cordial manner. State and local government employees’ contributory pensions will be temporarily suspended, according to the governor. In addition, he has established a commission to probe the pension problems and determine why funds were withheld instead being sent. In eight weeks, the committee will provide its report.
Seeing is believing in regards to the minimum wage. You know, this issue began long before we came into office, and although it is not our usual practice as the state’s NLC chairman to make public statements about such matters, we feel compelled to do so in this case.
The issue has persisted since the agreement was signed in 2019 and 2020; initially, Anambra believed that the minimum wage was based on basic salary, but now it is obvious that it is based on take-home salary.
Therefore, Anambra has been paying the minimum wage according to this new understanding. Everything else relies on a legal interpretation. The resolution has met our expectations.
In the meanwhile, while workers across the country await a decision on a new minimum wage from the federal and state governments, he said the governor has formed a commission to streamline pay matters going forward.
“He has established a committee to investigate wage problems in Anambra and find ways to help workers by raising their wages. On the committee, we have representatives from the NLC, the TUC, and local government employees; on the side of the government, we have the SSG, the head of service, the Commissioner for Finance, and others.
The minimum wage debate is finally dying down, and for that we are grateful. After five long years, the fight is finally over. He plans to announce the wage rise after the committee has investigated the governor’s requests.
In addition, the governor has graciously given his blessing for the site of the future state labor house.
Our wage increase will be announced by the governor after three months of reviewing the report submitted by the committee on wage award, which was established long ago. “We are pleased that the meeting went well,” he said.
In an interview with journalists, Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu, who is also the secretary of state government and the committee’s chairman, assured them that the Soludo administration is on the side of workers and promised to make sure that the implementation of the new minimum wage is smooth once it is announced, even though federal legislation may delay it.