Mimimum Wage:NLC Tackles Soludo … Says Anambra Is The Worst Wage Payer In Nigeria

“A level 14 officer in employment of Benue state government earn more than level 16 in Anambra state”

An official of the Nigeria Labour Congress has described Prof. Chukwuma Soludo’s administration as the worst wage payer in the country.

Speaking on an Arise News current affairs programme, Morning Show, monitored in Lagos on Tuesday, a level 14 officer in employment of Benue state government earn more than level 16 in Anambra state.

Also, the national president of the NLC , Joe Ajaero, has kicked at the shabby treatment to the civil servants in the employment of the Anambra state government.

The Nigeria Labour Congress has accused the Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, of trying to divert public attention from unpaid minimum wage and pension deductions by accusing the state workers of blackmail.

A statement issued by the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, said the NLC vehemently rejected the blatant dissemination of falsehoods and overt attempts at blackmail, orchestrated to divert public attention from the genuine grievances of Anambra workers against the government.

According to Ajaero, the Federal Minister of Finance, Dr Wale Edun, acknowledged Governor Soludo’s government’s violation of the 2019 National Minimum Wage Act.

“Despite Congress’s repeated efforts to urge the governor to pay workers their rightful wages, the government has instead engaged in grandstanding and evasive tactics.

“The government is deducting pensions from workers’ salaries but not remitting them to PFAs as required by the 2014 Pension Act. This constitutes a criminal breach of statutes, with penalties including imprisonment or heavy fines, yet the government has made itself an offender in this regard.

“We can not, therefore, be talking about serious issues that bother the welfare of workers in the state, and the government seeks to wish it away with infantile insinuations. It will be a shame if the lives of workers in the state are not valued and the very things which make life worthwhile have been robbed of them by the actions of the state government,” he expounded.

He claimed that the NLC was uninterested in how Soludo played his politics or governed his state, “but we will be concerned and will take appropriate steps any time the government treats the workers in the state with disdain and contempt”.

“The NLC maintains that constructive engagement and adherence to information are vital in resolving labour disputes. We urge the state government to refrain from dismissing legitimate concerns raised by the NLC and TUC but instead focus on finding mutually beneficial solutions through dialogue and negotiation.

“We are mindful of sticking to the tenets of social dialogue as social partners and that is why the state council of NLC and TUC have endured several abuses by the state Government against their rights all these years, which the state Government has unfortunately refused to acknowledge,” the NLC president stated.