Imo workers are paid N40,000 minimum wage –Govt

Imo State Government has described as untrue and fallacious the allegation by the national secretariat of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that it is among states yet to pay the N30,000 minimum wage.
It noted that apart from Imo State paying the N30,000 wage since 2020, it has gone ahead to add another N10,000, thus paying its workers N40,000 minimum wage.
Commissioner for information, Public Orientation and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, condemned the misinformation from NLC national secretariat without reference to the Imo State chapter.
Emelumba, who was reacting to the statement by NLC in which Imo was listed as having not paid the N30,000 minimum wage, said the report was a vile propaganda to tarnish the image of the government.
He referred the NLC national secretariat to a statement by the Imo State chapter where it clearly admitted that workers in the state had been receiving N30,000 minimum wage since 2020.
The commissioner noted that the same state chapter also admitted that since the removal of fuel subsidy, the workers now receive N40,000 as minimum wage.
He wondered what the NLC national secretariat stood to gain by dishing out falsehood to Nigerians, whereas the workers in Imo have acknowledged the payment of N40,000 minimum wage to them by the state government.
Meanwhile, the organised labour in Imo State, yesterday, debunked reports from its national headquarters that the state was among those yet to pay the N30,000 minimum wage.
It stated that contrary to such a ‘misleading and mischievous’ report, Imo State government, under Governor Hope Uzodimma, has been paying the workers the N30,000 minimum wage since 2020.
NLC Imo State chapter Chairman, Uche Nwigwe, in a statement, said Uzodimma had gone ahead to pay Imo workers an additional N10,000, to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy.
“Since 2020 till now, Imo State workers have been on N30,000 minimum wage. The government, in an effort to alleviate the suffering of workers, increased the state minimum wage to N40,000, which has been effective,” the union said.
It regretted that those who added Imo to the list of states not paying N30,000 minimum wage wanted to cause friction between the workers and their leadership.
The union said the only outstanding issue between the government and the workers is the payment of the consequential adjustment of the minimum wage, which Uzodimma had since approved.
It, therefore, urged the public to ignore the false information that Imo is among states that are yet to implement the N30,000 minimum wage.
“Imo workers are happy with their workers’ friendly governor who has even agreed to pay the new national minimum wage when negotiations are concluded,” it said.