Once the committee’s report is submitted, the governor’s office will adopt a new minimum wage, he guaranteed.
Bayelsa State’s governor, Douye Diri, has formed a committee to determine how to raise the minimum salary for government employees in the state.
The committee is headed by Nimibofa Ayawei, the secretary to the state government.
Members also included Biobelemoye Charles-Onyeama, Head of Service, Maxwell Ebibai, Commissioner for Finance, Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, his equivalent in Labor, Productivity and Employment, and Peter Akpe, Chief of Staff, Government House.
The deadline for the committee’s report is May 31, 2024.
The announcement was made by Mr. Diri during Wednesday’s 2024 Workers Day event at Yenagoa’s Peace Park.
After the committee reports, the governor has promised to institute a new minimum salary and has reiterated that state employees receive the same compensation as federal employees.
Mr. Diri emphasized that his administration’s many worker-friendly programs proved that workers’ welfare had always been an important concern.
In the same breath, he pledged to start construction on a new, more suitable secretariat complex for government employees to house the expanding staff.
During his first term in office, the state’s governor credited the assistance and efforts of government employees, whom he characterized as the foundation of any society’s progress.
He emphasized the importance of maintaining a cooperative relationship with his government for the sake of leaving enduring legacy.
Mr. Diri also gave the go-ahead for a yearly pay raise for government employees, as well as the disbursement of funding to finish the NLC and TUC state secretariats.
To determine if domestication of the federal minimum wage is possible in Bayelsa, the committee must quickly investigate the actions taken by the federal government in this regard.
It has until May 31st to turn in its findings.
Everyone in Bayelsa, you have done an excellent job. The government relies on you, and you know it. Because of how well you have done, we have succeeded. Everyone we meet compliments us.
We have accomplished a lot in several areas, including infrastructure, human capacity building, and others. I think it’s great that you’re doing this.
All throughout our state, the lives of the people of Bayelsa are being touched by the multitude of transformational legacy initiatives that have been made abundantly obvious by these successful collaborations.
In order to secure our state’s future, let us keep working together.
A new, state-of-the-art secretariat complex could be considered in order to house the growing staff, he added, adding to the current remodeling plans.
Workers had previously expressed their gratitude to the governor for the better working conditions brought about by his measures that were friendly to labor.
Jointly addressed by Barnabas Simon, chairperson of the NLC, and Laye Julius, his counterpart at the TUC, the workers expressed their gratitude to the governor for authorizing the payment of salary awards to all categories of workers in Bayelsa.
The timely payment of wages to employees and pensioners, as well as the regular execution of promotion exercises, are among the many things for which we are grateful.
Your generous and accommodating attitude toward the needs and ambitions of workers in Bayelsa is greatly appreciated by the organized labor in the state.
“We greatly appreciate your open-door policies and the promptness with which you have addressed the majority of our demands over the past four years,” they expressed.
On the other hand, they requested a reevaluation of the salary award, a better system of transportation for employees, and a map of the acquired lands for government employees.