The governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, has approved the payment of N70,000 new minimum wage to government workers in the state.
The Governor disclosed this while speaking to a group of journalists at New Government House in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state capital.
Governor Nwifuru noted that the N70,000 minimum wage is not a salary increment, adding that the new minimum wage entails the least payment of a worker is N70,000 and not the entire workforce.
He further directed the State Head of Service to draft out modalities for the payment of the new minimum wage.
“There’s a difference between minimum wage and salary increment. The minimum wage is not salary increment, it’s not as if N70,000 is going to be topped on everybody’s salary, it’s not possible; that’s not what minimum wage is all about. The new minimum wage means what a worker gets as least salary.
“The new minimum wage act is bidding on everybody, Ebonyi State government will pay the N70,000 new minimum wage, as from the day the Head of Service and the civil servants agree on the formula and present it to me, then we will pay”.
Nwifuru also restated his commitment to adhere strictly to the Supreme Court ruling on Financial autonomy for Local government councils.
“Ebonyi state government will obey the Supreme Court ruling on Local government financial autonomy, because as it stands today as a Governor, I can’t remember a day, I touched Local government resources or funds, I have never done that”.
“We have conducted Local government election. We are going to implement the ruling of the Supreme Court by allowing the local governments to manage their finances and execute the projects they want to execute”, he said.
Ebonyi State is the second state to agree to pay the minimum wage approved by the Federal Government after Adamawa State.
The Adamawa State under Ahmadu Finitiri commenced the payment of the N70,000 minimum wage to civil servants in the state in August.
While the Federal Government was paying N30,000 minimum wage, Fintiri was paying N32,000, to Adamawa State workers as their minimum wage.