The Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has assured workers in the state that he won’t pay the least minimum wage in the country.
He gave the assurance on Wednesday while speaking with journalists in Abuja.
While assuring the residents that Abia State would not pay the least minimum wage in the country, the governor said he would table the discussion with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria in the state.
According to him, the decision on the N30,000 minimum wage would be a decision between him and workers in the state.
“The wage that Abia State will pay will certainly not be the least in the country. But I will leave that decision to a time when my workers and I would sit down after the Federal Government would have ended its discussion”, he said.
Ikpeazu said the call for new minimum wage by the workers is legitimate and urged those in positions of authority to be innovative in thinking and finding a way to deal with wage issue.
The governor said, “But beyond wage issues, I think the worker deserves a little more. Capacity building, training, enhancing their skills at work and making themselves better persons, hands-on on what they do is even far more important than talking about salary. I dream about a day when workers would start to think about enhancing their efficiency at work and all that”.