Minimum Wage: NLC working with opposition to destabilize govt – Abdulrazaq

By Sulyman Jimoh
Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the umbrella body for workers in the state have engaged in verbal fireworks over the issue of the minimum wage.
On Friday at the state government house during the Bareke, a long held symbolic visit of the Emir to the seat of government, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq accused the state NLC of working and collaborating with the opposition People Democratic Party (PDP) to destabilize his government with the minimum wage issue.
He added that no worker in the state is receiving less than N30,000.
But the state NLC not only described the allegation as false, but said it was made of desperation.
This was disclosed by the chairman of the labour body, Comrade Issa Ore during a telephone Sunday.
“This is not a new trick by governors, it was the same thing that was done by the governor of Rivers state when he accused the NLC of working with the opposition, because he barricaded their office and NLC went berserk” he added.
The labour chieftain however reiterated that the salary structure the governor is trying to implement is not official nor is it with the understanding of the NLC.
According to him, “When discussing the minimum wage with the governor, we told him categorically that the level 1-6 he said he’s implementing is not official because we have no agreement on that.
On the claim that no worker in the state civil service is earning less than N30,000, the Labour chair was quick to counter the governor’s claim dismissing it as false.
“Here in Kwara state, the minimum wage has not been implemented, the N18,000 minimum wage is what is still being paid to Kwara workers as far as NLC is concerned”, he submitted.