The Kwara State chapter of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has pointed out that the state government is playing hide and seek game on the issue of workers’ new minimum wage.
The labour union also condemned a statement credited to the Governor’s spokesperson, Rafiu Ajakaye, who – while calling into a Sobi FM programme tagged ‘Perspective’ – said the “…issue of minimum wage is already clear and unambiguous element in 2021 budget signed into law”.
The state chairman of NLC, Aliyu Issa Ore, in a statement issued on Friday, said the union would not have bothered responding to the governor’s Spokesperson but for his attempt to distort fact and cause disaffection among the workers.
The statement read partly, “For clarity sake, since LABOUR suspended strike action in 2020, the State Government and her negotiators have been playing hide and seek game. This was deliberate to ensure that Workers welfare is relegated to the back stage of governance.
“However, when Mr. Ajakaye has every right to speak for government on State budget, he lacks moral right justifications to demean collective intelligence of Kwara State Workers. More so he was not a member of the negotiating committee.
“We therefore urge the Workers and the general public to disregard the statement as the issue of Minimum Wage in Kwara State is not alright yet, because the Governor has not signed the collective agreement for its implementation.”
