Public servants in Akwa Ibom State may soon enjoy the N70,000 new National Minimum Wage as soon as Federal Government releases modalities, Akwa Ibom Governor Umo Eno has assured.
Eno stated this on Saturday during a MediaChat with reporters, editors and publishers at Banquet Hall in Uyo as part of the events to mark the Akwa Ibom 37th creation anniversary.
President Bola Tinubu signed the minimum wage bill into law, ending months of deliberations between government authorities, and Organised Labour.
Tinubu signed it at the State House in Abuja on Monday, July 29, 2024 days after the National Assembly National had passed the Minimum Wage Act, 2019 to increase the National Minimum Wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000.
However, National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) has not released to the states the consequential adjustment scale detailing the pay of every worker from the lowest to the highest ranking officer under the new dispensation.
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Eno said Federal Government is still working on the modalities, noting ‘‘We cannot jump gun in an attempt to implement the law.’’
Again, we want to understand the modalities. As soon as the modalities are released, we will pay the workers the new Minium Wage,’’ he said.
Contract award
The Governor stated that the State Executive Council has awarded 19 new contracts acfross the three Senatorial Districts in the state.
However, he did not mention the names of the contract and their locations.
Later, the state Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists, Comrade Amos Etuk thanked the Governor for the media chat, the third since he assumed duty as Governor, for journalists.
Etuk said the union now boasts of 861 members in its fold, the highest in the South-South Region described the governor as press friendly.
He announced that Nigeria Union of Journalists at the national level has singled four Akwa Ibom indigenes for awards in different categories.
”These, according to him, ”are Governor Umo Eno, Moses Ekpo, immediate past Deputy Governor; Comrade Ini Ememobong, Commissioner for Information and Comfort Umanah, the General Manager of Redemption FM, Abak.”