Bomba Dauda
In a press statement signed and issued in Kaduna by the Kaduna State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Edward Percy Masha condemned in
strong term Gov. Uba Sani’s and APC lukewarm response to the ongoing industrial action.
Adding that, “this unacceptable stance follows the state government’s questionable handling of the new minimum wage for workers in the state.
“We are alarmed by the government’s deafening silence on the matter, considering the devastating impact of the total shutdown of government offices, schools, hospitals, and public enterprises. This has resulted in unnecessary suffering and immense losses for citizens and the state, particularly school children who were on the verge of starting their end-of-term examinations and patients who could not get attention for various health conditions.
“We also strongly condemn the deliberate misrepresentation by the governor through his spokesman, claiming that a gross minimum salary of seventy-two thousand naira has been paid to employees at the lowest cadre. This claim is not only false but also shameful, as thousands of lower-cadre employees and pensioners received far less than the promised amount in November 2024.
“Furthermore, the claim that the state government’s payroll has over 84,000 employees or is gulping about 6 billion naira monthly, and thus impossible to make reasonable consequential adjustment for employees across cadres is not only ridiculous but lacking in common sense. This is because, the Elrufa’i regime undertook the largest workers’ retrenchment in the state’s history, and no major employment has been carried out since then, while the government maintained a reasonable wage bill ever since.
“It is also on record that the Uba Sani administration is the luckiest in the history of the state, with a combined monthly net balance from federal allocation, grants, and IGR in excess of fifteen billion naira, compared to his predecessors.
“Recall also that under the administration of Malam Nasir Ahmed Elrufa’i, the Kaduna State Government became the first in the country to pay the new minimum wage and consequential adjustments in September 2019, despite the paucity of funds and many shortcomings of the governor. The administration also increased the minimum pension for pensioners on the defined benefits scheme to N30,000 monthly.
“The present APC-led administration in the state, therefore, should have no valid excuse not to fully implement the minimum wage for workers and pensioners, while the governor’s retinue of overbloated appointees go home with so much.
“It is also insensible and insensitive for any government to implement a new salary structure that will add a paltry sum of two thousand naira to say, staff on grade level 14 as a consequential adjustment, while those at the lowest cadre get over 40,000 naira increment to their salary as if they go to different markets.
“Consequently, we urge the organised labour to remain resolute and continue the strike until the government implements the new minimum wage fully and makes the necessary consequential adjustments for all workers and pensioners in the state. The PDP stands in solidarity with organised labour and Kaduna workers, committed to bringing about a change in Sir Kashmir House and enthroning a workers-friendly government in 2027.”
