Otti Averts Labour Unrest, Agrees to Implement New Minimum Wage

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has averted a looming industrial crisis in the state after reaching agreement with the organised labour on the acceptable modality for the implementation of the new minimum wage.

The “amicable agreement” came on the heels of altercations between the Abia State House of Assembly and the state council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which had alleged that the House was considering a bill to scuttle local government autonomy.

The state Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, announced Tuesday that government and labour resolved their differences after negotiations on Monday, adding that payment of new minimum wage would commence as planned before month end.

“The state government and the organized labour have reached an amicable settlement with regards to the issue of the payment of the new minimum wage,” Kanu told journalists at the Government House.

However, he said that the payment of the new minimum wage could not start on the 28th day of the month, the usual day for salary payments “because the negotiations ended in the early hours of Monday”.

Kanu told Abia workers that they should be “rest assured that those payments will be made (unfailingly) before the end of the month as promised by the state governor”.

The leadership of both the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) became suspicious of state government when it announced that it would commence the implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage by October and was silent on consequential adjustments.

Labour accused government of not being transparent in its planned implementation of the new minimum wage as no consequential adjustment template was provided.

Workers were kept in the dark as to how much those above level one were expected to start earning in the new minimum wage hence labour frowned on government’s apparent secret intention to play a fast one on Abia workers.

On October 26, 2024 both NLC and TUC issued a seven-day ultimatum to government to conclude negotiation on the new minimum wage, failure of which they would with effect from November 2 reactivate their suspended strike.

In the joint communiqué issued at the weekend after a meeting of the State Action Committee and State Executive Council, theorganised labour further stated that the Otti administration must demonstrate “seriousness and transparency” in the negotiation for minimum wage.

The labour leaders also reminded government that the payment of the new minimum is deemed to have become effective from July hence it would be paid with the accrued arrears.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of state House of Assembly, Hon. Emmanuel Emeruwa, has warned the state NLC leadership to desist from making unfounded allegations against the state legislature.

The speaker was reacting to the alarm raised by NLC that the House was considering a bill that will empower the state government to take 90 per cent of local government allocations, leaving the councils with just 10 per cent.

“There is nothing like that before me, there is nothing like that,” he said, adding: “I challenge them (NLC) to produce evidence of what they wrote because you cannot say what you don’t know.”

Emeruwa, who spoke with journalists after leading the state lawmakers on a solidarity visit to Governor Otti at his Nvosi country home onMonday, asserted that the Abia legislature has the constitutional power to legislate on local governments.

He said: “And, if we are making any new law regarding local governments, it’s our legitimate right and mandate because the constitution gives the House of Assembly right to oversight the local government.”