Date: 2021-02-06

The Kwara State Council of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, has accused the state government and her negotiators of playing a hide and seek game on the new minimum wage since the suspension of the 2020 strike action by workers in the state.

A statement by the state chairman of the labour movement, Aliyu Issa Ore, said in a statement in Ilorin, on Friday that "This was deliberate to ensure that workers welfare is relegated to the back stage of governance."

He urged state workers and general public to disregard the statement credited to the government as "The issue of minimum wage in Kwara State is not alright yet, because, the governor has not signed the collective agreement for its implementation."

NLC claimed that governor's spokesman, Rafiu Ajakaye, had said" The issue of minimum wage is already clear and unambiguous element in 2021 budget signed into law

However, reacting, the spokesman to the governor, said " Well, I am sincerely worried about the idea of the labour union being a formal body, issuing a statement based on social media account of what I said on a radio programme.

" The labour union, with due respect, is a formal body and I expected that if they were going to react to any government position, it should be based on what the government actually said, not what somebody else claimed that the government had said.

He disclosed that, he was on a radio station few days ago to explain a number of issues to members of the public and one of the issues was the minimum wage and I said, " First, the minimum wage is a law and there is no running away from it.

"Every worker deserves the minimum wage and we are going to pay that, I made that clear.

"And I said, the minimum wage again has been covered in the 2021 budget," he added.

Ajakaye said, he was unable to talk on the issue of specific time, because, labour and government were yet to agree on the consequential adjustments for the workers at the upper cadre.

" That was all I said, I never went into the specifics whether it has been concluded or not conçluded. What I said clearly was that it is an ongoing thing and government is committed to workers getting their fair share."