RAYMOND OZOJI reports
The Anambra State Chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has explained beyond all reasonable doubts that Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo is not responsible for the delay in the payment of October salaries to workers.
HEADLINE NEWS reports that contrary to concocted stories in the social media alleging the governor's refusal to implement the new minimum wage scheme, the NLC has stated point blank that Soludo is the only governor since creation of Anambra State to implement the minimum wage to the fullest as would be reflected in their salaries when they begin to receive their alerts by the first week of November this year.
The NLC state chairman comrade Humphrey Nwafor who addressed journalists shortly after a prayer rally organised by workers at the Teachers' House Complex Awka at the weekend, said it was pertinent that workers should be briefed on the implementation of the minimum wage and also informed about the little delay in paying them their salaries.
Nwafor said ordinarily workers got their salaries on the 25th of every month but due to the new minimum wage implementation, there were observations which they brought to the attention of the government and that the governor has given approval for the issues to be addressed.
Nwafor noted that when the meeting commenced at the Teachers' House initially, people were looking for whom to fight and abuse the governor for lack of information but in the end, they were made to understand that the governor is innocent of the allegations levelled against him.
He said there were rumours that the governor was not willing to pay the minimum wage which was why their salaries were being delayed but they have also been told that their salaries were being delayed because of the errors detected in the payment schedule and that the governor has given approval for the errors to be addressed.
Nwafor said even the labour leaders were accused of compromise; that they have collected money from government which was why they want government to pay them something very inconsequential.
According to him, the present state government will pay net salary of N70,000 to grade level one, step one and above, adding that after the minimum wage issue has been properly sorted out, the next would be salary review as requested by the workers of Anambra State.
He said Soludo served as a public servant. That he was a university lecturer and rose to the rank of a professor even before he became the CBN governor.
Nwafor said the governor retired and became a pensioner and a member of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) which he said is an affiliate of NLC and that workers should give him all the support he requires to attend to their welfare and wellbeing.
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