The chairmen of Abaji, Gwagwalada and the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of the FCT have paid the N70,000 national new minimum wage being demanded by their striking workers.
The Abaji chapter chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Usman Haruna Gana, confirmed that the LEA teachers in the council were also paid the new minimum wage.
Abuja Metro reports that as at yesterday evening, three other area councils including Kwali, Bwari and Kuje were yet to pay their workers.
The workers,last month, embarked on a strike to demand for the payment and some other allowances.
The council chairmen had insisted that the monthly allocations coming to the councils were not enough to implement the new wage.
They also denied that the N4.17 billion released to them by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, was not meant to pay the new wage even though the minister said it was released for that purpose.
The workers under the umbrella of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) on Monday raised an alarm over an alleged plan by the six area council chairmen to pay themadditional N40,000 instead of implementing the new wage of N70,000.
But the unionwarned the council chairmen to desist or face stiff resistance.
Workers confirm payments
Some staff of the Abaji area council, who spoke with our reporter on Thursday, confirmed receiving alerts of their salary reflecting the new N70,000 new minimum wage.
An elated staff of the council, Shuaibu Abdullahi, said he received alert on Wednesday night reflecting the new wage, saying he immediately withdrew the money to pay some debts.
“Yes, it is true, the new minimum wage was paid by the area council chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Umar Abdullahi. I received alert too but I have to withdraw the money to pay debts for food stuffs and school fees of my children this morning,” he said.
Mrs Abigael Yohana, who is also a staff of the council, confirmed to have received the new wage on Wednesday night.
“I also received alert reflecting the N70,000 new minimum wage on Wednesday around 9:12 pm. We pray that God will touch their heart to pay the other entitlements they are owing us by the end of this month,”she said.
Many civil servants in the council were seen discussing the payment in group.
Also, a staff of Gwagwalada area council confirmed receiving the new minimum wage on Wednesday night in the area.
Some of the staff of the council, who spoke with our reporter on Thursday, confirmed receiving the new wage, saying the payment brought some reliefs to them.
A staff of Gwagwalada area council, Isaac Daniel, said he received the alert on Wednesday.
“Yes, it is true, the new minimum wage was paid by the council chairman,” he said.
The staff of the two councils also took to their Facebook pages to confirm receiving the new minimum wage.
Reacting, the President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in the FCT, Comrade Abdullahi Ibrahim Kabir, confirmed the payment of the new minimum wage by the chairmen of Abaji, AMAC and Gwagwalada area councils.
He said the union was expecting Kwali, Kuje, and Bwari to either pay before the end of today or next week even as he said the payment of the new wage did not guarantee that the union would call off or suspend the ongoing strike.
“Yes, it is true, Abaji, AMAC and Gwagwalada area councils have paid the N70,000 new minimum wage, except Kwali, Kujeand Bwari which we are expecting either before the end of today or next week,” he said.
He added, “But the payment of the new wage doesn’t meanthat the union will call off or suspend its strike because there are other entitlements which are still pending.
‘’The strike continues until the six area council chairmen tell us when they intend to clear other entitlements before we decide on what next to do regarding the strike,’’ he said.
Recall that the staff of the six area councils had shut down the secretariats for over a month due to non-payment of their new minimum wage and other entitlements by the council chairmen.
