Gombe State governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has announced his intention to pay the new national minimum wage of N70,000 to workers in the state amid uncertainty.
This comes after the governor recently raised concerns about the possibility of implementing the minimum wage due to the state’s financial status, which sparked widespread criticism and uproar.
According to the deputy governor, Manassah Daniel Jatau, who is also the chairman of the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage negotiation, the governor has set up a machinery to ensure the implementation of the new minimum wage.
The deputy governor who addressed journalists yesterday after a meeting with labour leaders through the state head of civil service Ahmed Kasimu Abdullahi, however noted that the state is still waiting for the salary table from the federal government to commence negotiations.
“We had a brief discussion during our negotiation on the new 70,000 naira national minimum wage. However, in our tripartite committee meeting, we have agreed to wait for the time the new minimum wage table as approved by the federal government will be released.
“Whenever it is released, we will start full negotiation with a view to reaching an agreement on what is to be paid in Gombe State,” the state NLC chairman said during the briefing.
The development is seen as a welcome change of heart by the governor, who had earlier raised concerns about the state’s financial ability to implement the minimum wage.
DAYLIGHT REPORTERS observed that the statement saying the NLC will negotiate with the state government to agree on what the state can pay, suggests that there is no certainty that the new N70,000 minimum wage approved by the federal government will be paid in the state.
