Northll have problem paying new minimum wage but... -Gov Aliyu Akpabio begins payment of N18,000 minimum wage this month

Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has said that most states in the northern part of the country will have problems paying the new minimum wage of N18,000 to their workers.Aliyu, however, said that the governors in the region would have no alternative but to implement the law.Dr Aliyu, who is also the governor of Niger State, alluded to the economic problems facing states in the region to the extent that they had to depend on subventions from the federation account but insisted that the new minimum wage is a law we must find a way to pay.Addressing the special delegates conference of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Niger State chapter, in Minna on Wednesday, Aliyu said the state government would pay the minimum wage, adding that all local governments in the state must find ways to pay.The governor, however, told labour and workers in general that dont think you can intimidate me, I know your powers and I know my powers.He announced that the government had approved the absorption of 1,889 fresh graduates into the state civil service, bringing the number of such people so far employed by the government to over 8,000. The new policy would add N20 million to the monthly wage bill of the government.Former state chairman of the NLC, Mr Seth Abner, in an address, appreciated the cordial relationship existing between the congress and the government which had accounted for the industrial peace that had prevailed in the state.Meanwhile, The governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio, has become the first to implement the N18,000 minimum wage to its workers.Governor Akpabio gave the news on Wednesday, when he directed the state Commissioner for Finance to pay the new wage with effect from this month.Akpabio made the declaration at the sixth state council delegates conference of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), held in Ibom Hall, IBB Avenue, Uyo.Following the declaration, the workers in the state, led by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) state councils, openly endorsed him for a second term in office.Reacting to the development, NLC deputy president, Mr Promise Adewusi, called on other governors to emulate Akpabio.Also, the Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has sought a change in Revenue Allocation formula, to enable the state government to pay the wage.
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