NLC urges Gov Darius to implement new minimum wage

The Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Taraba state branch, Comrade Peter Gambo, has appealed to Gov. Darius Ishaku to ensure speedy compliance with the Federal Government’s directive to pay the approved N30,000 new minimum wage in order to improve the wellbeing of civil servants in the state.

Com. Gambo made the plea last week in an interview with newsmen in his office in Jalingo.

He expressed optimism that the governor would “no doubt” implement the new national minimum wage, and prayed that there would be no discrimination between state and local government workers in The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), last week, lauded the initiative of one of the antigraft agencies, the Nigeria Finan-cial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), saying its action will help curb the unending corrupt activities going on at the state and local government levels. NFIU had through a circular, pegged daily withdrawal of local government councils from banks at N500,000 and threatened to sanction any bank that released above that from local government funds. its implementation in the state.

He further said it was the law that stipulated payment for governors, members of national and state assemblies that was applicable for payment of state and local government workers.

Gambo, therefore, urged Gov. Darius to ensure that the state civil servants and local government council workers benefitted from the new minimum wage as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He also advised the state government to pay greater attention on skills acquisition among school children in order to make them self-reliant, and added that when such was done, the problem of unemployment among the youths would be addressed.

TUC, in a statement signed by Bobboi Bala Kaigama and MusaLawal Ozidi, president and secretary general respectively, equally urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and others to provide the necessary support. The union noted that the biggest challenge confronting the country was leadership and its bane, corruption, stressing that public officials deliberately violated guidelines that made a system decent.