Uba Sani, Governor of Kaduna state, has revealed that all worker in the state earns above the N70,000 new minimum wage as salary.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Governor while speaking on Thursday at Murtala Square in Kaduna on occasion the Workers’ Day celebration, noted that the least paid worker in the state earns N72,000.
Sani said he believes in the dignity of labour, adding that the issue of incremental adjustment of salaries would be addressed soon.
He said, “I have been involved in the struggle for labour rights, workers’ rights. That is my antecedent.”
“Because of my background, I sat down with the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).”
“I made it clear to them that though we have met the minimum wage requirement but there is something called incremental adjustment which is discretionary.”
“Because of my relationship with both NLC and TUC, I asked them that we should sit down and come up with a formular that will make every worker in Kaduna state happy, irrespective of his or her status and they came up with three different options.”
“Today, I want to reaffirm to all of you here that by the grace of God, we will look at the incremental adjustment and ensure that even senior civil servants will benefit because we have to make our workers happy.”
He also highlighted his administration’s commitment to pensioners, revealing that N3.8 billion was recently released to settle pending gratuities, death benefits, and accrued pension rights.
Sani said, “Since the inception of our administration, we have cumulatively paid the sum of N10.4 billion in gratuity, death benefits, and accrued rights in the Contributory Pension Scheme.”
Commenting on the strike by Kaduna State University (KASU) chapter of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Sani acknowledged the lecturers’ demands, has spanned over 17 years and amount to between N5 billion and N6 billion.
The Governor however maintained that the issue requires dialogue and cannot be resolved overnight. He cited his administration’s recent efforts, including the investment of over N300 million to achieve course accreditation from the National Universities Commission (NUC).
Sani promised that the problem would be addressed owing to the importance of education.
