Our correspondent
Chairman of the Nasarawa State Committee on the New National Minimum Wage and Deputy Governor of the State, Dr. Emmanuel Akabe has bemoaned what he described as false accusations made against him by the organised labour in the state.
The Deputy Governor made his feelings known during a meeting with members of the Committee at his temporary office in Lafia.
Nasarawa Newsline correspondent reports that Dr. Akabe said the leadership of the organised labour in the state was not fair to the present administration in spite of efforts being made to ensure prompt implementation of the new minimum wage and tackling other sundry matters of concern to civil servants, noting that the allegations contained in a memo to the government against his personality and that of Governor Abdullahi Sule was unacceptable and uncalled for.
According the deputy governor, there was no way the government would have taken a decision on the matter without carefully studying the report submitted by the Technical Sub-Committee on the New National Minimum Wage which requires Governor Abdullahi Sule to make necessary consultatations before taking action, reiterating that the Governor has since demonstrated political will to domesticate the new law.
He added that one of the main reasons for the delay in its implementation was the sympathy the government has for local council chairmen who may face difficulty in paying salaries of their personnel and expressed optimism that the issue will be sorted out in due course, just as he presented a new template for the labour side to study and deliberate upon.
In their separate remarks, the State Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Labaran Magaji and the Accountant-General of the State, Dr. Musa Ahmed Mohammed affirmed that the accusations against the government on refusal to implement the New Minimum Wage were misplaced, calling on the labour leaders to be sincere and civil in their conduct.
The duo enjoined the Nigerian Labour Congress to align and re-align its position in line with the principles of purposeful dialogue to guarantee seamless cordiality between both sides of the negotiation table, urging the organised labour to tender an unreserved appology to the Deputy Governor and Governor Abdullahi Sule for the choice of words in its recent letter to the government.
Responding in the affirmative, State Chairman of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Oko, while acknowledging that their position was in the best interest of both the government and workers in the state in view of the directive of the national body to proceed on strike next Monday, however sued for understanding from the government, appealing for expeditious action on the implementation of the New National Minimum Wage in the state.