Kogi State governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo has approved N72,500 minimum wage for Kogi Civil Servants with immediate effect.
The governor also suspended the tax burden on the approved sum for one year.
While unavailing the minimum wage in Lokoja, Ododo said implementation should take immediate effect to enable the wage to cope with the current situation in the country.
The chairman Minimum Wage Committee, Mr Elijah Evenemi said the agreement on the minimum wage is not a victory for any political party but for the good of the masses.
He appreciated the governor for giving the committee free hand to operate and achieve a common goal.
Credible News recalls that on July 29, President Bola Tinubu signed the new Minimum Wage Act into law.
The brief ceremony was witnessed by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, and the House Leader, Prof. Julius Ihonvberem, who represented the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.
READ ALSO: New Minimum Wage: FG begins payment to civil servants
It came nearly two weeks after President Bola Tinubu and the organised labour unions—comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria—agreed on N70,000 as the new minimum wage.
On July 18, the Federal Government, organised labour and the private sector concluded months-long negotiations on the minimum wage when Tinubu haggled down labour’s N250,000/month demand to N70,000/month.
Akpabio, who addressed journalists after the signing ceremony, said, “I’m ecstatic. I’m excited about the Nigerian worker and the national minimum wage amendment, which applies to the whole nation: The Federal Government, the states, the local governments, the private sector, and even individual employers.
“So, I think this is a great day for the workers in the country. We are not only doubling the minimum wage, but we have added something on top. Initially, it was N30,000; now, it is N70,000.”
He emphasised that N70,000 is the new minimum wage, which means “No Nigerian worker will offer services and be paid anything less than N70,000 from today. That is the implication of this Act. It applies all over the nation. And we are excited that this is happening at a time like this through President Bola Tinubu.
Credible News.ng
