The Accountant General of Yobe State Alhaji Usman Bura has informed that the state will not have challenges in paying the new minimum wage approved by the Federal Government.
The State Accountant General who spoke with our correspondent in Damaturu said the commitment of Gov. Mai Mala Buni to the payment of the new minimum wage remains unshaken, saying that state will implement the wage “without stress”.
Alhaji Usman Bura noted that the young state which receives a meager FAAC of N4.3 billion and an average monthly salary wage bill of N2.1 billion unlike other states that are in financial doldrums, Yobe State he disclosed is in a very healthy position and will not be in any financial crisis implementing the new minimum wage as the state is free from both domestic and foreign debts.
“Let me inform you that in Yobe State Our Chief Accounting Officer who is the Executive Governor Hon. Mai Mala Buni has promised to pay the 30,000-naira minimum wage and we are going to pay without having problem. This is what we have been doing over the past years and we will not have problem paying the minimum wage as agreed.
“It’s on record that unlike other states, Yobe has never delayed in the payment of salaries to her workers. The salaries use to come latest on the 24 – 25th of every month. The last time we had a delay till the end of the month was when we were upgrading our systems so it has to drag us to the end of the month. But other than that, we have been prompt in salary payment and gratuity and pension to retired civil servants in the state.
“Even with the change of government, nothing has changed in the payment of salaries in the state. And with what we are doing now, we are confident that Isha Allah, we can pay the new minimum wage without any stress in the state as promised by the governor,” the Accountant General informed.
Reacting to whether the recent recruitments in the state civil service following pronouncement from the Governor will affect the finances of the state, Alhaji Usman Bura still maintained that nothing will change, while assuring workers in the state not to panic as the state financial Machinery management is intact.
“Because of what we have saved, we can accommodate those new recruitments that have been done by the governor. Those recruitments that were made are recruitment into very critical positions in the state. Those positions were needed and in fact some of them were even vacant and needed to be filled. A lot of people have retired, some have passed away and all those places have been vacant for long and the governor took a need analysis for those vacant positions vis-à-vis our financial strength and made those approvals bearing in mind that it will not affect our financial standing. Even when the governor was making those approvals, he knew at the back of his mind that a minimum wage of N30, 000 is coming up. By the grace of God, we are good to go for the minimum wage,” he assured.
Commenting on the sincerity or otherwise of states that are grumbling of their inability to pay, the Yobe accountant General said; “As you are aware, other states are struggling even with the N18,000 minimum wage to pay so I cannot say for those states whether they are sincere or not. But as for us in Yobe, we have never had any problem of paying and we have been paying our bills and even other commitments apart from salaries. Even now, if you go round that state capital, you will see tarred roads and streetlights provided by government.
“So you can agree with me that we don’t just pay salaries and fold our arms, we go ahead to execute other development projects in the state. All the projects in the state are not carried out with loans but with our prudent management of resources and the amount that comes from the Internally Generated Revenue.
“You have to believe that it was proper management of resources. That proper management started from the top. The past governor was a professional accountant and a seasoned civil servant who rose through the ranks to assume the position of the permanent secretary, retired and went into politics. You will agree with me that he was a good driver of the system. He drove it well and handed it over to the new governor who has not changed machineries that were running the system before. Recently, Yobe state has been rated as the best state in Nigeria by the World Bank for Public Finance Management. The World Bank did the assessment on regional basis. We came first in the region as well as nationwide. All this is as a result of prudent management of resources with very meagre IGR. We are getting World Bank support through an organization called SLOGOR. Very soon, we will start the implementation of the State Integrated financial management information system that that will bring more money to the state for projects execution because everything will be automated and there will be no human influence in handling money,” he explained.
In his view, the Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress in Yobe State Comrade Muktar Musa Tarbutu said labour in Yobe State does not envisage any challenge with Gov. Mai Mala Buni in the implementation of the new minimum wage following his pronouncement to implement the agreement during his inaugural speech on May 29, this year.
“Though we have not begun any formal engagement with government on the new minimum wage in the state, we are however confident that our governor Hon. Mai Mala Buni will not drag in the implementation of the new wage.
“Our conviction is based on the fact that even his pronouncement at his inaugural speech he promised to implement whatever agreement that was reached on the matter by labour. At the moment, I am waiting for details of the payment but at the same time I am also preparing my house to get ready for any formal engagement with the government as soon as the matter is adequately exhausted. From the body language of the governor, I am sure Yobe workers will have any challenge enjoying the new minimum wage,” Yobe NLC boss said.