The Kebbi State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has faulted promises made to workers by Abubakar Malami, African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate, in his Independence Day address.
Usman Murtala, NLC chairman in the state, described the pledges as political statements, arguing that some of the issues raised by Malami had already been addressed by the Kebbi State Government.
Murtala made the remarks in a statement issued to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Birnin Kebbi.
He particularly faulted Malami’s pledge to ensure prompt payment of pensions and gratuities to retired civil servants, saying the state government had not delayed such payments under Governor Nasir Idris.
“Every reasonable Kebbi indigene is aware that since Gov. Idris came on board, he has never delayed payment of gratuities to retired civil servants. The records are in the public domain,” he said.
Murtala also said pensioners in the state had continued to receive their pensions without backlog or delay, adding that they were sometimes paid before serving workers.
He described Malami’s pledge on the issue as an attempt to gain the sympathy of workers and the public.
NLC disputes N110,000 minimum wage pledge
The labour leader also rejected Malami’s proposal for a ₦110,000 minimum wage for Kebbi workers.
According to Murtala, the state government currently pays ₦75,000, which he said is above the ₦70,000 federal minimum wage benchmark and is consolidated with leave grants.
“No state in the federation is paying the minimum wage Kebbi State is paying. Therefore, to pledge N110,000 as new minimum wage is nothing but a mere political statement,” he said.
On Malami’s promise to provide public transportation for workers, the NLC chairman said the ADC candidate failed to acknowledge the recently launched Kebbi Transport Authority.
He said the authority was established to ease transportation challenges for residents, including workers commuting from rural communities to the state secretariat.
Murtala also said workers were already expected to benefit from affordable housing, with construction of more than 700 housing units approved by the state government said to be at an advanced stage.
He added that more than 1,800 health workers had been employed across the state and local governments to strengthen healthcare delivery.
According to him, the government had also implemented responsibility allowances and consequential adjustments in salaries in the primary education sector.
Murtala said the state government had employed 2,000 professional teachers as part of efforts to improve education in the state.
The NLC chairman said promotions for workers in the state had also consistently been implemented alongside annual increments.
“Ordinarily, the NLC does not join issues with politicians, but it is imperative that certain issues the ADC candidate raised in his speech were a direct attack on the union which had been fighting for the rights of workers,” he said.
Murtala urged politicians to verify facts before making public statements, saying doing so would prevent inaccurate information from being presented to workers and other members of the public.
