Kano state Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said his government had succeeded in settling outstanding payments of pensioners from inception in 2015 to date, with the total sum of N12 billion.
The governor made this known at the celebration of Workers’ Day, which took place at the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kofar Mata, Kano, reminding that, “… today we are celebrating the Workers’ Day in a very critical and challenging moment, as the nation is just recovering from economic recession, dwindling earnings alongside escalating cost of governance.”
On the agitation of the labour union for salary increment, Ganduje said, government has already submitted a memo to the tripartite committee on the national minimum wage constituted by the Presidency.
The governor called on the workers to look into such precarious nature and pursue their demands reasonably, that could be affordable and implementable at the end of any negotiations. Some of the achievements of his administration included the implementation of the stagnated promotion of primary school teachers with additional monthly wage bill of N578.6 million from 2013 to 2016. “We also formalised the appointment of 5,518 casual/ temporary workers inherited from the immediate past administration under Kano State Senior Secondary Management Board (KSSSMB), Health Services Management Board and Corporate Security,” he said. Abolishing of tenure policy for Permanent Secretaries and Directors in the state and local government services who served for 8 years on their positions, was listed amongst the achievements of his administration.
In his speech, the chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the state, Comrade Kabiru Ado Minjibir commended the governor over the prompt payment of salary, saying: “Our strategy of adopting the principles of dialogue and constructive engagement with the state government has resulted in the steady payment of salary, which is the primary right of the workers in the state.”
