Yobe state government has said the deductions witnessed in July salaries of the local government workers is temporary, and it happened as a result of economic and fiscal situation but will be standardised at any moment the situation improves.
Yobe state Commissioner of Home affairs Information and Culture Alhaji Abdullahi Bego made this known while briefing journalists in Damaturu.
He said, “Given the nature and scale of situation at hand, the first and natural impulse would be to say lets retrench some of the workers or downsize the workforce to be able to handle the fat salary bill.
“But the administration of Governor Mai Mala Buni has refused to contemplate that idea.”
Bego stated that following the global economic downturn that also affected the state, government set up a committee to deliberate on the issue and proffer alternative.
The committee, according to him, recommended a review of the minimum wage of local government employees in the state to N20,162 across all grade levels.
He noted that the decision was made with the full knowledge and participation of relevant workers’ union in the state, emphasing that because the government considered workers’ salaries as priority, it always paid promptly.
“This means that at the end of the every month, the state government would first pay the salaries of workers before undertaking any other expenditures,” he said.
The commissioner assured the workers in the state that Buni’s administration would continue to do everything necessary to improve their walfare and the atmosphere that they need in a bid to continue to contribute to the socio-economic development of the state.
