Baba Negedu 
Following the insistence by the organised labour in Kaduna State under the auspices of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to go ahead with the planned strike, the state government yesterday said it had commenced the implementation of the national minimum wage in the state.
The government therefore said it is a misrepresentation for NLC to claim that the state has defaulted in the payment.
A statement by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Malam Ibraheem Musa, yesterday, decried NLC’s lumping of Kaduna State with others, describing it ‘’as grossly unfair because the least paid worker received N72,000 as gross salary in the month of November.’’
Musa said: “The governor has complied with the spirit and letter of the National Minimum Wage Law, by paying the lowest paid civil servant N72,000 last month.
“NLC is harping on the issue of consequential adjustment but the labour body should realise that there is difference between salary increment and Minimum Wage,’’ the statement explained.
“Kaduna State receives an average of N8 billion from Federal Account Allocation Committee(FAAC) from the centre every month. It also generates around N4 bn monthly. That translates to N12 billion revenue monthly.
“However, the monthly wage bill has jumped from N5.4 billion to N6.3 billion with the implementation of the Minimum Wage last month. “And there is also the deduction of N4 billion for loan payment every month.
“So, the wage bill and the deduction have gulped over N10 million out of the total N12 billion revenue.
That leaves only N2 billion for projects.” Malam Ibraheem argued that it will be unfair for Kaduna State Government to spend almost all its revenue on consequential adjustments, after paying the mandatory Minimum Wage.
Meanwhile, the NLC has accused the state government of unilateral implementation of the N72,000.00 new minimum wage. It urged the state government to take the next step by approving the consequential adjustments to the salary tables as negotiated by the organised labour.
A statement by Gado Hussaini Titus, State Secretary of NLC, insisted that workers in the state would embark on strike today.
The statement said: “This action becomes imperative following the failure of the State Government to implement the new minimum wage and its consequential adjustments.
