Minimum Wage: ‘Nasarawa ‘ll Also Negotiate Sustainable Salary’

Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia

The Nasarawa State Government yesterday said it would also negotiate with the organised labour in the state to arrive at a new minimum wage that it can sustainably pay.

The state Head of Service (HoS), Abigail Waya, stated this when she briefed journalists on the progress made so far on the minimum wage shortly after the State Executive Council meeting held in the Government House, Lafia.

Waya said: “As we may all be aware, there is a tripartite committee that was set up by the federal government. That committee is negotiating with the federal government on what the new minimum wage would be.

“Nasarawa State on its part is fully committed to the welfare of civil servants and as soon as a new minimum wage is arrived at, the state government will also negotiate with the organised labour in the state to arrive at a new minimum wage that it can sustainably pay.”

She maintained therefore that the Nasarawa State Government’s decision to negotiate its own new minimum wage was because it was not just about having a new minimum wage, but it should be a wage that the government can pay in the long term.

The expanded State Executive Council meeting convened by the state Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has approved various sums of money totaling over N4 billion for urban and rural renewal projects across the state.