The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) yesterday said Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari was fighting against the actualisation of a new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers to cover up his administration’s alleged failure to implement the N18,000 minimum wage.
NULGE National President Ibrahim Khaleel, who broke the news ahead of the 40th anniversary of the union in Abuja, the nation’s capital, said local government workers in Zamfara earned N6,000 as minimum wage.
Khaleel, who is also the National Treasurer of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), insisted that the low-earning power of Zamfara residents was responsible for the rising insecurity in the state.
The labour leader noted that as long as the workers were not well paid, there would be no peace in the state.
He regretted that the nation’s local government workers were the most vulnerable in the world, saying while N18,000 was the minimum wage in Plateau State, local government workers were paid its fraction as salary.
Khaleel also said the local government system in the country was discriminated against.
According to him, the welfare of workers in the system can only be enhanced if the local government areas are allowed to function well.
On local government autonomy, the union leader said only 12 states had taken their stand on the issue, with nine of them supporting autonomy for the local government and three others voting against it.