Workers Day: Governor Ahmed Promises Prompt Payment Of Salaries And Pensions
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Posted On May 1, 2016
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Kwara State Governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed has promised workers in the State that his administration’s strategies in reducing the cost of governance and the renewed revenue generation mechanism will ensure prompt payment of salaries and pensions.
Governor Ahmed, represented by the State’s Head of Service, Hajia Zara Umar, gave this assurance at this year’s Workers’ Day celebration held at the Metropolitan Square, Ilorin the state capital.
The Governor noted that the state Internal Revenue Services (KWIRS) has been empowered to shore up the state’s internally generated revenue, adding that this will ensure the state government’s strive to meet up with its statutory commitments and infrastructural development are met satisfactorily.
Dr Ahmed thanked workers and pensioners in the state for participating in the on-going verification exercise, promising that “the exercise is to give an accurate number of workers and pensions in its payroll, and to block leakages.
The governor also said that data received from the exercise will be used for planning purposes which will facilitate growth and development in the State.
He commended the federal government for suspending monthly deductions at source for states who received bailout funds from the federal government. According to him, “this will ease the financial challenges facing many of those states as we seek alternative measures to improve our economy”.
He however urged the labour unions to situate their request for upward review of minimum wage to N56,000 within the context of the economic challenges confronting all tiers of government in the country.
According to him, “as it is, most states can hardly pay salaries based on the current minimum wage not to talk of increasing it”.
The Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the State, Comrade Yekini Agunbiade listed a number of outstanding issues of labour awaiting resolution by the state government.
He called on the state government to increase the internally generated revenue of the local government councils so that that tier of government could meet their financial obligations to workers and pensioners.
