Abia Minimum wage saga: Gov. Otti directs for revision of salary structure.

Stephanie Clems, Umuahia

Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti has instructed that the salary structure for the new national minimum wage be revised to reflect proper consequential adjustments.

Governor Alex Otti gave the instructions during a crucial meeting he held with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress including the affiliate bodies in the state.

The organised labour in the state was led by the NLC Chairman, Comrade Ogbonnaya Okoro.

Governor Otti said that he received reports of errors noticed in the payment of the minimum wage which the state started its implementation in October.

Governor Otti assured that the government would be engaging with the leadership of the organized Labour in the coming days to correct any error observed.

“I have instructed my people to go and look at it again.

“In the next few days we will be engaging with the leadership of the Labour so that we will make necessary adjustments. So, my team will go back and look into it,” he said.

The governor frowned at the inclusion of Abia state in the list of states yet to commence implementation of national minimum wage describing it as uncalled for.

He said that Abia is one of the first states to implement the policy from October 2024.

Governor Alex Otti further announced that both the December salary and 13th month salary of workers would be paid before December, 20, 2024. and assured the members of the organized labour of being partners in the government.

The governor while describing Abia work force as a major vehicle that brought him to power, equally thanked the workers for remaining major stakeholders in the rebuilding agenda of the government.

He said that the essence of the meeting was to have an interaction with Abia workforce and to thank them for their support to his administration which has changed the image of the state for the better.

He however frowned at the attitude of Abia pensioners who he said have denied the agreement they entered with government even after allegedly receiving arrears of their pension as they are now accusing the government of deceiving them.

He noted that his administration met on ground unpaid pension arrears dating from 2014 and has defrayed same, noting that since April this year, Abia pensioners have been receiving their full pension on the 28th of every month. He thanked the Concerned Abia Pensioners for speaking up on the matter.

“The first time I met with the NUP leadership, they were clear to me to say that what was important to them was to be able to get the government to commit to paying them 100 percent of their pension from that month, and forget about the arrears and I felt it was not fair”.

In his reaction, the Chairman Abia State chapter of the NLC, Comrade Ogbonnaya Okoro appreciated the governor for his benevolence to the Abia workforce and his decision to correct the errors observed in the payment.

He said that they would present other issues of concerns to the governor later and assured governor Otti of the sustained support of the workers to ensure he succeeds in office.

The meeting attracted many government officials had Chairmen and secretaries of affiliate Unions of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), that of Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiating Council who also reacted to the development.

They expressed satisfaction and confidence in the governor and government and assured him of their continuous support and partnership, saying that Abia workers have never had it so good having a listening and workers’ friendly governor.