Implementation non-negotiable, says Oshiomhole
Ondo, workers agree on N14,000 for now
Yobe begins personnel audit
AS the debate over the ability of states to pay the N18, 000 minimum wage rages, some governors, who seem not prepared for any industrial unrest threatened by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) are working out ways to implement the new National Minimum Wage Act.
While some states have intensified their internally-generated revenue drive, others have begun the audit of their workforce to eliminate "ghost workers."
In fact, some governors have declared that the removal of fuel subsidy is not a condition to pay the new salary because the National Minimum Wage Act has become a law that states must obey.
Among the state chief executives, who support the unconditional implementation of the law is Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, who at the weekend, debunked allegations that state governors, through the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) were angling to remove oil subsidy as condition for them to implement the minimum wage.
At the opening session of the National Executive Committee meeting of the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Oshiomhole said the controversy over the removal or otherwise of the fuel subsidy had over the years been a policy of the Federal Government, which organised Labour had opposed.
"The issue of deregulation and removal of subsidy has always been on, it has always been a policy of the Federal Government which Labour has always opposed but the issue of minimum wage is already a law and it must be obeyed by all. The minimum wage has become a law and governors must be seen to be obeying the law and the law must not be convenient for anyone before it will be implemented. In Edo State, we are not negotiating whether it will be implemented."
While informing the audience that there is still much to be done in terms of development in the state, Oshiomhole said: "Once we can get rid of godfathers and stop the bleeding of the system, we will find the resources to provide the basic needs of the people. On the issue of one-man one-vote, our campaign is on and we have made a remarkable progress on which we can build on in the future. We cannot evaluate our democracy and any progress that has been made without appreciating the role of the media in this process. Democracy is not just about observing rules, but also about accountability, not accountability only in terms of naira and kobo but accountability in terms of our responsibility to account in terms of decisions we have made to the extent that these decisions affect the people."
In her speech, the state chairperson of NAWOJ, Ijeoma Umeh, said the theme of the meeting "Gender mainstreaming; requisite for the attainment of national development" was chosen because the society was advancing to the level where the inclusion of woman in governance will be a "sine- qua-non for Nigeria to compete with other emerging economies."
"We will certainly implement the minimum wage. In the next few weeks, we would have finished negotiating with the unions, not on whether to implement the minimum wage or not, because it will definitely be implemented, but to know how to implement it for those already above the minimum wage.
On deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry, the governor said it is right for anyone to suggest that it is a battle the governors are fighting, adding that deregulation has been on over the years, and has nothing to do with the state governors, rather, it is strictly an issue for the federal government.
To pay the new wage to its 26,000 civil servants, the Yobe State government, Governor Ibrahim Geidam has inaugurated a "verification and audit" committee to fish out redundant and "ghost workers" on its pay roll. The state's Head of Service, Dauda Yahaya confirmed that the governor had ordered the audit of the state workforce.
Yahaya told reporters in Damaturu yesterday that more measures would be taken before the minimum wage would be implemented in the state.
He said the implementation of minimum wage in the state had been stalled by dwindling monthly allocation from the Federation Account and a bloated workforce, adding that more than 50 per cent of the N2 billion monthly Federation Account Allocation, goes into payments of workers' salaries and allowances. .
Yahaya said the verification exercise, was aimed at sorting out genuine workers from the ghost ones along with the redundant ones, so that by the time the exercise was completed, government could fully implement the minimum wage without seriously affecting the provision of basic social services, healthcare delivery and security of lives and property in the state.
On when the audit would be completed, he said: "We have started doing something, we will however, not give details of what we are doing so as not to jeopardize our strategies for identifying ghost workers and redundant ones in Damaturu and the 16 local councils in the state."
And after six days of negotiations and a three-day strike, the crisis over the implementation of the new wage between the Ondo State government and its workers came to an end yesterday as Labour suspended the action.
The truce came as the two parties agreed that the least paid worker in the state would earn N14,000 while the N18,000 minimum wage would commence as soon as there is increment in the state's revenue profile.
Chairman of the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), Solomon Adelegan, signed the agreement on behalf of organised Labour while the Head of Service, Ajose Kudehinbu, represented the government.
Adelegan, who read the agreement, declared that the workers were suspending the industrial action following an understanding between the two sides that the state finances cannot accommodate the payment of the new minimum wage for now.
He said: "That after going through the facts and figures presented by the Ondo State government, it was clear to the parties that the government cannot afford to pay the new National Minimum Wage of N18,000 for now.
"That pending a new revenue allocation formula acceptable to the state government, Labour agreed with the proposal by the state government to introduce 'salary relativity' under which the government will pay for now, a minimum salary of N14,000 per month to workers under the aegis of the JNC in the public service.
"That the implementation of this agreement shall be effective from July 1, 2011." . .
The JNC chief thereafter declared that "based on the agreement that the state government will start the implementation of the 'salary relativity,' the strike embarked upon by workers in Ondo State public service is hereby suspended and our workers are also directed to report at their duty posts immediately."
He thanked the state government for its understanding of the situation, saying the workers action should not be misconstrued in any quarter as a sign of government's act of insensitivity to the welfare of its workforce.
The Deputy Governor, Ali Olanusi, who led the government delegation to the negotiation, expressed the gratitude of Governor Olusegun Mimiko-led administration to the workers for their "sense of maturity, understanding as well as quick and positive response to the situation throughout the negotiation period."
The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Ranti Akerele, who was on the state delegation, said the state government wished that it could give more to Labour because "nothing is too much to give to the workers and they truly deserved it. They too know that the present administration is known by the electorate as being workers' friendly government, which had taken workers welfare as a priority since it came on board.
The Guardian