The Kano State Government has cancelled the payment of N30,000 as minimum wage and has reverted to N18,000, an official of the government has said.
This was confirmed by the Special Adviser on Media to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, Salihu Tanko-Yakasai, in an interview with newsmen.
He said the state government had stopped the payment of N30,000 minimum wage to its workers with immediate effect.
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He explained the reason behind the action was due to the recession occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, the state was unable to continue paying N30,000 because it longer gets enough revenue from the federation account. He, however, did not mention when the minimum wage would be restored to N30,000.
“The state government has reverted to the initial minimum wage due to the recession. What we are getting now as a government has reduced, and we can’t afford to pay the N30,000 minimum wage”, he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari had signed the new minimum wage act into law in April 2019 stipulating N30,000 as the minimum wage.
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The Kano State government had agreed In December 2019 with its workers to commence the payment of the new minimum wage, while arrears of April-November 2019, were to be settled in instalments.
The state government had, however, slashed the salary of workers in the state for four months, a situation which prompted the organised labour to warn the government to desist from tampering with the workers’ salary or face industrial action.
The Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress have yet to react to the development
