APGA replies workers, says Obiano paid new wage

The All Progressives Grand Alliance has described Anambra State workers as “insatiable Oliver Twist”.

The party said the state Governor, Willie Obiano, had fulfilled his promise of payment of the new minimum wage to workers in the state, starting from January.

Workers in the state had on Monday threatened strike against the state government for allegedly not reflecting the new minimum wage in their January salary as agreed.

They said, “Consequent upon this, the organised labour hereby gives the Anambra State Government 14 days ultimatum with effect from Tuesday, February 4, 2020, to implement the agreement on the new minimum wage reached with the organised labour.

“If at the end of this ultimatum, the government fails to properly implement the new minimum wage as agreed between the government and labour, the organised labour in Anambra State may no longer guarantee the industrial peace presently existing in the state.”

But the National Coordinator of APGA Media Warriors’ Forum, Chinedu Obigwe, at a press conference in Awka, the Anambra State capital, insisted that workers in the state were paid in January based on the new minimum wage template.

He said, “It’s important to correct the erroneous impression insinuating that Governor Obiano’s payment of minimum wage is a scam.

“The minimum wage has been implemented to the extent that the lowest paid worker earns N30,000 in gross monthly salary minus their obligatory deductions like tax, union dues, health insurance and so on.

“The consequential adjustments for those at Grade Level 07 upwards were also implemented in a way that there was no more salary disparity among workers.

It added, “It should also be noted that the salary disparity between state and local government workers has been harmonised by Obiano’s administration.”