NLC to Gov. Bello: Pay minimum wage in 21 days or face strike

From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

The Nigeria Labour Congress in Niger State has issued a 21- day ultimatum to Governor Abubakar Sani Bello led state government to implement the new minimum wage of N30,000 or face indefinite strike.
Organized labour in state warned that if at the expiration of the ultimatum, government did not begin the payment of the minimum wage it would declare an indefinite strike from the 4th February 2020.
NLC while rising from an emergency meeting held at the Labour House in Minna, the NLC said its action followed the inability of government “to adequately respond to the issues raised in an earlier letter to the government.”
The ultimatum letter was jointly signed by the state chairman of the NLC, Comrade Yakubu Garba and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, Chairman Comrade Yunusa Tanimu titled “Notice of 21 days ultimatum of indefinite strike ” was sent to the state governor Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello through the Secretary to the Government SSG and the Head of Service.
The letter dated 3rd January 2020 with reference ” Ol/NS/040/GEN/Vol.1/26 and OLS/NS/040/GEN/Vol1/27 warn that all activities of government in the state will be paralysed from the 4th of February if the demands were not met.
“The Organized Labour wishes to register its total dismay on the government’s inability to adequately respond to the issues raised in the aforementioned letters”
Also the Organised Labour said the payment which should have been completed on the 3rd of February should include the ” Consequential Adjustments and accrued arrears.”
The government has not reacted to the ultimatum letter.
However, the state government had said that its 2020 budget is based on the payment of the N30,000 minimum wage.
The commissioners for Planning Alhaji Mamman Musa and that of Finance Alhaji Zakari Abubakar while giving the breakdown of the budget in Minna recently said like other aspects of the budget the implementation will commence once the fiscal estimates is passed by the house of assembly and assented to by the governor.
The commissioners declined to say categorically when the minimum wage payment will commence but said” this is 2020 budget everything in the budget will be implemented in 2020″
They further submitted that the state will not have difficulty in paying the N30,000 minimum wage because “we are already paying N22,500, what we need now is N7,500, we have taken care of that in the budget.