Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State has explained why he adjusted local government workers’ salaries in order to save their jobs.
The Commissioner for Information, Home Affairs and Culture, Abdulahi Bego, said the governor did not want any worker to lose his/her job due to the prevailing economic hardship in the country.
Mr Bego, who spoke at a press briefing on the recent salary adjustment of local government workers’ salaries, said the decision was meant to retain the number of workforce instead of retrenchment.
The commissioner blamed the decision to adjust local government workers’ salaries on the recent global economic downturn that created shortfalls in revenue generation.
According to him, the state government had consulted widely with different stakeholders, including trade unions before taking the decision.
Mr Bego said after realising that the economic situation would not allow the government to continue with the payment of the N30, 000 minimum wage, Governor Buni set up a committee to find a better and alternative way of handling the issue.
“Given the nature and scale of the situation at hand, the first and natural impulse would be to say ‘let’s retrench some of the workers or downsize the workforce to be able to handle the fat salary bill.
“But the administration of His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni has refused to contemplate that idea. The governor does not want workers to lose their jobs because of the prevailing economic hardship.
“As a consequence, the state government set up a committee at different levels to deliberate on the issue and find better alternatives.
“The committee travelled to places far and wide to understudy how they conduct their salary administrations.
“Critical stakeholders also met both in Damaturu and across the 17 local government areas to discuss and find a way out. The Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs produced and circulated a multi-point discursive material that guided the discussion at the concerned fora.
“These committees have members drawn from the labour unions, including the state chapters of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), and the Medical and Health Workers Union (MHWUN),” the commissioner explained.
Mr Bego also noted that after a series of meetings at various levels, stakeholders from all the 17 local government areas endorsed the state government’s decision not to retrench or downsize workers in spite of the financial downturn.
Similarly, the secretary of the National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, in the state affirmed that the union was part of the decision and was fully in support of the reduction of its members’ salaries rather than retrenchment.
