Minimum wage: We commenced payment January – Abia

Abia State Government has said  it started the payment of the new minimum wage in January 2020 to workers.

A  release by the state, yesterday,  giving an update of the minimum wage payment said in the entire South East region, Abia paid  the highest amount per wage level and had the highest monthly wage bill.

“While many states battled to pay only a percentage or full salary to civil servants during the lockdown period occasioned by the outbreak of COVID-19, Governor Ikpeazu religiously paid workers and continued with his key development projects including road construction, promotion of agriculture and SME development as well as improvement of healthcare infrastructure.

“As at yesterday, workers in all government-owned agencies and parastatals have received September 2020 salaries and were not owed any arrears. In addition to the above, the state government has already paid subventions to ABSUTH, ABIAPOLY, College of Health and Management Sciences, and commenced payment to Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB) in lieu of senior secondary school teachers.

“The ministry of Finance, led by Dr. Aham Uko, has worked out the dynamics to actualise the bailout of Abia State University, Uturu (ABSU) with the N400million promised by Governor Ikpeazu next week to help them pay workers who suffered as a result of the forced closure of schools due to COVID-19.

“According to the Commissioner for Finance, irregularities were discovered in the payroll of Hospital Management Board (HMB), which has necessitated a review in their modalities of payment to be effected next week. State pensioners have been fully paid for the month along with other workers, as is the current practice, but this report does not cover those on LGA payroll including workers, LGA pensioners, primary and junior secondary school teachers who are paid statutorily by the respective LGAs,” the statement said.