COVER
May Day: Demand for Wage Increase Takes Centre Stage
From: Johnson Eyiangho, Abuja, Mike Tayese, Yenagoa, Attah Ede, Makurdi, Ene Asuquo, Calabar, Dan Amasingha, Minna
In spite of increases in wages announced Tuesday by the Federal Government for six consolidated salary structures in the Federal public service, demand for new wages dominated discourse across the country as Nigerian workers joined their counterparts worldwide to mark the international Workers’ Day.
The annual event was held nationwide with workers making demands for new pay as parades were held in state capitals by workers.
In a special message to workers to mark the day, President Tinubu commended Nigerian workers for their fidelity to the peace, progress, and development of the nation evident in their tireless efforts and patriotic zeal to keep the national engine running.
The President said his administration remained committed to improving the welfare of all workers, noting the various relief programmes, including the wage award and the imminent minimum wage review.
Plateau Clears N11bn Salary Arrears, Restores Workers’ Morale
Plateau state Governor, Caleb Mutfwang has said that he cleared N11 billion salary arrears he inherited from his predecessor, and restored the morale and stability of the workforce.
Mutfwang, who stated this at the Workers’ Day celebration on Wednesday in Jos, said that he inherited a civil service on the brink of collapse.
The governor, who was represented by Plateau Head of Service, Mrs Rauta Dakok, said that the government took swift action and established a reliable system for salary disbursement.
He stated that in view of the economic turbulence that followed the removal of the petroleum subsidy, his administration took decisive steps to alleviate the impact and ensure that the welfare of the citizens remained a top priority.
Mutfwang assured the workers and Plateau citizens of his commitment to forge a future where every worker would be treated with the utmost dignity, respect, and fairness.
He further assured Plateau people that his administration was steadfast in its mission to revitalise the civil service and achieve exemplary service delivery.
According to Eugene Manji, the Chairman, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Plateau Council, workers in the state reject in totality the price hike in petroleum products and that of the energy sector, which are the principal ingredients in any country’s development.
Manji, who spoke at the event, said that all policies carried out by successive governments, including the current administration, seemed to inflict more hardship on Nigerians than improved their quality of life.
The chairman said that Nigerian masses were being choked and strangled unnoticed by the very bad policies of the leaders, while workers and citizens were requested to be patient with the government.
Kenneth Shammah, Chairman, Trade Union Congress in Plateau, applauded Mutfwang for the decision to pay workers gratuity from 1986 to date, but announced that retired local government workers had already approached the National Industrial Court (NIC), for the enforcement of the payment of their gratuity.
Shammah appealed to the government not to allow the case to hang in court as it would not do anyone any good; rather, an amicable resolution should be pushed until the goal was achieved. (NAN)
Diri Appoints Five- man Committee to Domicile FG Minimum Wage in Bayelsa
Bayelsa state Governor, Douye Diri has set up a five – man committee headed by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Nimibofa Ayawei, to look into the possibility of domiciling the federal government minimum wage in the state.
Other members of the Committee which include the head of service, the commissioner for finance, the chief of staff, government house and the commissioner for labour, employment and productivity are to submit their report by the end of this month.
Governor Diri who disclosed this while addressing workers in his May Day Speech at the Peace Park, Yenagoa, the state capital, said already the workforce in Bayelsa State have been receiving salaries and wages at par mostly with only workers of the federal government of Nigeria.
The governor assured the state workers that he will not announce a wage increase and will not implement it.
In their joint address, the leadership of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), comrade Simon Banabas and Trade Union Congress, TUC, comrade Laye Julius, called on the state governor senator Douye Diri to recall the primary school teachers that were unjustly sacked in 2016 by the previous administration.
The duo made the call during this year’s May Day at the Peace Park opposite government house Yenagoa, the state capital.
According to them, while some staff of tertiary institutions in the state with similar issues have been graciously recalled, the primary School teachers are still wallowing in poverty.
Parts of their demand include the payment of outstanding salary arrears to the reinstated workers at the Niger Delta University and other higher institutions in the state.
Other includes training and promotion of state forestry officers in the ministry of environment.
Approval for implementation of promotion/increment from 2019 to 2023 for tertiary institutions.
They also requested for the timely payment of salaries to primary school teachers and pensioners. Weigh in allowance for media workers working with the state House of Assembly amongst others.
The team for this year’s Labour Day was “People First”.
35% Salary Increase not Minimum Wage, Labour Clarifies
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has clarified that the 25 per cent and 35 per cent increase in workers’ salary announced by the federal government is not minimum wage.
The President of the Association, Tommy Okon, made the clarification while fielding questions from newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.
Okon who is also the Vice President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), said that the approval of the salary increase was to close the salary gap that existed in some Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Okon said the clarification was important for the generality of workers and the masses at large that the salary increase was to bridge the wage gap in the civil service.
The Federal Government on Tuesday announced an increase of between 25 per cent and 35 per cent in salary of civil servants on the remaining six consolidated salary structures.
They included: Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS), Consolidated Research and Allied Institutions Salary Structure (CONRAISS) and Consolidated Police Salary Structure (CONPOSS).
Others were, Consolidated Paramilitary Salary Structure (CONPASS), Consolidated Intelligence Community Salary Structure (CONICCS) and Consolidated Armed Forces Salary Structure (CONAFSS).
Benue Workers’ Welfare Topmost Priority – Alia
Benue state Governor, Hyacinth Alia, on Wednesday promised to continue to prioritise the welfare of workers in Benue State.
Alia made the pledge in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, on Wednesday in Makurdi.
The governor commended the workers for their immense contributions towards the overall development of the State.
He said the theme of the year 2024 International Labour Day, “Ensuring Safety and Health at Work in a Changing Climate,” was in line with his administration’s agenda of enhancing workers’ welfare and conditions of service.
Alia said he was already working towards achieving the objective of the theme, having renovated the State Secretariat and also provided a dedicated 33KVA transformer to ensure steady power supply and give the workers a healthy and conducive work environment.
According to him, apart from the prompt payment of workers’ salaries, his administration will continue to pay owed arrears, attend to issues of promotions and allowances and ensure training and retraining of the workers.
He charged the workers to always imbibe the culture of transparency, compassion, accountability and honesty.
He urged them to continue to support his efforts by delivering on their assigned roles as workers of the state, and to also remain apolitical at all times.
Otu announces N40,000 as living wage for least paid worker in C’River
The cross River State Governor, senator Bassey Otu has announced 40,000 naira as the living wage for the least paid worker in the State civil service, and also implemented all promotion arrears that had been outstanding before his assumption of office.
The governor in his goodwill message to workers on the occasion of 2024 workers’ day celebration in Calabar made this known to civil servants in the State
The Governor stressed that Prompt Payment of Salary and Pension will remain a first line charge in every month’s expenditure considering the huge effort workers put in the implementation of government policies and programmes.
He maintained that the State Government is presently on the verge of concluding necessary arrangements for the staggered payment of outstanding gratuity to its retired workers, he urged pensioners in the State to exercise patience in this regard.
He however said, “owing to the peculiarity of our State in regard to its lean finances occasioned by low Statutory Federal Allocation and aggravated by the unfavorable State GDP to Debt servicing ratio, the new wage implementation shall be in line with the realities of the time rather than sentiments”.
Niger Gov’t Approves Implementation of New Minimum Wage without Details
Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger state has directed the immediate implementation of a new wage increase as announced by President Bola Tinubu in commemoration of 2024 workers day.
The governor made the pronouncement while delivering his keynote address to mark the 2024 International Workers Day event, held at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi conference center, Minna.
Governor Bago noted that, since he assumed office, his administration has been labour friendly and is ready to to continue to partner organized Labour.
He stated that there was a need to implement the new wage increment so as to cushion the effect of the economic crisis in all the spheres of human endeavour across the state.
The governor, represented by the Head of Service,Engineer Salihu Abubakar cautioned the workers to stop seeking for short term loans to avoid a financial crisis.
He urged the workers and the people of the state to be patient with his administration,stressing that his developmental vision was aimed at impacting positively on living standard of the people,assuring that his administration has taken the welfare of the workers with all seriousness,noting that he will continue with the tempo.
The state NLC Chairman, Comrade Idrees Abdulkareem Lafene explained that 1st May has been a day of commemoration and protest for workers rights, adding that it is observed with various activities,including demonstrations,marches,and rallies advocating for better wages,improved working conditions and labour rights.
Comrade Lafene enjoined the Niger State government to as a matter of urgency stop monthly deductions from workers salaries for the State Health Insurance Scheme.
He advised the government to see workers as partners in progress.
PDP Charges Workers to Resist Anti-People Tendencies
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged workers to continue to resist all anti-people tendencies that seek to compromise and undermine the democratic tenets of freedom, rule of law, accountability and probity in the country.
In a message to mark the Workers’ Day, the PDP said it was pained that the workers and millions of other citizens have, in the last nine years, been subjected to misery, harrowing economic hardship and worsening insecurity by the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.
The party, however, saluted the workers for remaining steadfast as real drivers of the national economy in spite of what it described as “suffocating and life-discounting conditions occasioned by the ill-implemented economic and fiscal policies of the APC.”
It condemned the “continuing increase in electricity tariff and price of petroleum products with petrol now selling at over N1000 per liter in various parts of the country; a situation that has resulted in astronomical increase in the cost of living and worsened the economic hardship in the country.
While the PDP wished the workers a happy celebration, it urged them and the entire citizen not to give up hope but remain steadfast in their commitment towards a stable, united and prosperous nation, especially at this challenging time.
By Laide Akinboade, Abuja
As part of efforts to reposition the newspaper for optimum corporate performance, the management of Asset Newspapers Limited, Publishers of DAILY ASSET, has announced the appointment of David Torough as the Editor of the Abuja-based national daily.
A statement by the management said the appointments were part of the company’s new strategy to further penetrate the various states in the country and raise its readership and patronage.
“DAILY ASSET is widely acceptable across the country and to maintain our leadership position, we need to increase management presence, hence the need to create new Bureau offices in some locations outside Abuja and Lagos,” the statement quoted the Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief, Dr Cletus Akwaya to have said.
In a statement yesterday, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the fast-growing daily, Dr. Cletus Akwaya said the appointment was part of the new strategy to properly situate the paper for better productivity.
“DAILY ASSET has a commitment with the Nigerian people. We are determined to weather the storm and give Nigerian readers a Newspaper that satisfies their yearnings and reading pleasure and we can only do that with the right set of professionals,” the statement said.
Akwaya, a former Commissioner of Information from Benue State said the difficult times being faced by Nigerians posed a great challenge to the media as the people deserved credible information with which to make choices.
“We have a bond with the people, to offer credible information at all times in the best tradition of the Nigerian Press and on this scale of objectivity, truth and fairness, we pledge to remain steadfast no matter the challenges,” Akwaya was quoted to have said.
He said the newspaper will maiantin its daily print run and circulation to all states of the federation and urged advertisers to take advantage of the deep penetration of the Daily Asset brand to send their messages.
Torough, the new Editor has had a steady rise in the Newspaper in the last five years.
A graduate of Mass communication of the Benue State University, Makurdi, Torough joined the company in 2022 as Benue State Correspondent. He was spotted for his brilliance and redeployed to Abuja the following year and promoted to Deputy News Editor. He was subswuently named Deputy Editor of the paper, a position he held until the recent appointment.
Torough has attended several journalistic workshops and trainings to properly equip himself for the task ahead.
The statement also said the Management named Eze Okechukwu as Deputy Editor.
Before his elevation as Deputy Editor, Eze has been Deputy Politics Editor and DAILY ASSET Newspaper correspondent covering the Senate, having joined the organization in 2021.
Born on March 10, 1975, Eze holds a Masters Degree in Mass Communication from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
Eze began his journalism career with Daily Star, Enugu and later worked with Daily Trust Newspaper, Abuja as sports reporter.
Aside from his journalistic excellence, he has a great deal of passion for sports.
From Ngutor Dekera, Kaduna and Aliyu Askira, Kano
Northern governors and traditional rulers yesterday called for the suspension of mining activities across the region for six months, blaming illegal mining for worsening insecurity in many states.
The resolution was contained in a communiqué issued after a joint meeting of the Northern States Governors’ Forum and the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council held at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna. The meeting, chaired by the Gombe State Governor and NSGF Chairman, Muhammadu Yahaya, had in attendance the 19 northern governors and chairmen of the 19 states’ traditional councils.The Forum expressed concern over the escalating violence in parts of the North, including the killings and abductions recently recorded in Kebbi, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Sokoto, Jigawa and Kano states, as well as renewed Boko Haram attacks in Borno and Yobe.“The Forum extends its deepest condolences and solidarity to the governments and good people of the affected states,” the communiqué said, noting that the attacks on schoolchildren and other citizens had become “unacceptable tragedies” that required urgent collective action.It commended President Bola Tinubu for what it described as the Federal Government’s “firm response” to recent abductions and insurgency threats, especially the rescue of some abducted pupils.The governors also saluted security agencies for their sacrifices on the frontlines.“We resolved to renew our support for every step taken by the President and Commander-in-Chief to take the fight to insurgents’ enclaves in order to end the criminality,” the Forum stated.A major highlight of the meeting was the North’s renewed push for the establishment of state police, with governors and traditional rulers insisting that decentralised policing had become inevitable.“The Forum reaffirms its wholehearted support and commitment to the establishment of state police,” the communiqué added, urging federal and state lawmakers from the region to “expedite action for its actualisation.”On illegal mining, the governors said criminal mining networks were fuelling violence and providing resources for armed groups.As a corrective measure, they asked Tinubu to direct the Minister of Solid Minerals to impose a six-month suspension of mining activities in order to allow for a full audit and revalidation of licences.“The Forum observed that illegal mining has become a major contributory factor to the security crises in Northern Nigeria. “We strongly recommend a suspension of mining exploration for six months to allow proper audit and to arrest the menace of artisanal illegal mining,” it said.To strengthen the fight against insecurity, the governors also announced the creation of a regional Security Trust Fund.Under the proposed arrangement, each state and its local governments will contribute ₦1bn monthly, to be deducted at source under an agreed framework.They said the fund would help provide sustainable financing for joint operations, intelligence-driven interventions and coordinated security responses across the region.At the end of the meeting, the Forum reaffirmed its commitment to unity and collective responsibility.“Only through unity, peer review and cooperation can we overcome the pressing challenges before us,” it declared.The Forum agreed to reconvene on a date to be announced.Meanwhile, Nigeria’s worsening security crisis took a grim turn on Monday as bandits launched fresh attacks in Kano State, abducting 25 villagers, even as the Federal Government raced to secure the release of more than 300 Catholic school children kidnapped in Niger State.In the early hours of Monday, armed bandits invaded Unguwar Tsamiya—popularly called Dabawa—in Shanono Local Government Area of Kano State, whisking away nine men and two women after shooting into the air and assaulting residents. The attackers also rustled two cows.A resident lamented the community’s helplessness: “We cannot do otherwise; most of us cannot leave because we have nowhere to go. This is our place, our land and everything is here.”The assault came less than 24 hours after a similar attack on Yan Kamaye in Tsanyawa LGA, a community along the volatile Katsina border.In Niger State, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu has assured distraught families of St. Mary’s Co-Education School, Kontagora that the more than 300 students and staff abducted on November 21 will return home “soon.” Ribadu, who led a high-level federal delegation to the school on Monday, said the abductees are safe, though he offered no specifics on their location or the status of rescue operations.According to Daniel Atori, spokesman for the Catholic bishop overseeing the school, the NSA reassured officials: “The children are where they are and will come back safely.”The St. Mary’s attack is part of a worrying resurgence of mass kidnappings reminiscent of the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction. Security analysts warn that banditry has evolved into a “structured, profit-seeking industry,” with hundreds of Nigerians abducted in November alone.The Kontagora school abduction occurred the same week 25 girls were kidnapped in Kebbi State—victims who authorities say have since been rescued through “non-kinetic” means. About 50 of the St. Mary’s hostages have also managed to escape.Ribadu’s delegation, which included the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), reaffirmed the government’s commitment to securing the freedom of all abducted citizens.As communities from Kano to Niger continue to bear the brunt of these violent incursions, the escalating spate of kidnappings underscores the urgent national demand for a more decisive and coordinated security response.
By David Torough, Abuja
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said former Attorney‑General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, will face a team of interrogators at its office daily throughout December.
A credible source in the EFCC said on Monday that the daily appearance was part of an ongoing investigation into the whereabouts of an alleged 490 million dollars Abacha loot secured through a Mutual Legal Assistance (MLAT) request. The source said that Malami, who was summoned for interrogation by the EFCC on Saturday, was barred from leaving Nigeria for the next one month.According to the source, one of the conditions for his release on Saturday was that he should report daily to the EFCC Headquarters in Abuja for further interrogation.The source said Malami would have to appear daily at the anti-graft office due to the volume of the investigation and the seriousness of the charges against him.”We seized his passport, it is the normal routine during investigation, but he has to report at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja every day for the next month.”He will be reporting for further investigation throughout December.”He will be reporting every day, starting from Dec. 1st to Dec. 31st.He will appear before the team of investigators for the entire month of December.”He will be reporting to EFCC for investigation for the period because of the volume of the investigation and the seriousness of the charges against him,” the source added.According to the source, a fact sheet on the former minister revealed that Malami had several issues to clarify with the EFCC within the coming weeks.“We have asked him to explain the whereabouts of the $490 million Abacha loot secured through MLAT.“We didn’t say he stole money, but he should account for the loot. This is one of the issues he will clarify to our investigators.”The commission cited the large volume of documents he must review and the need for extensive interviews as reasons for seizing his passport.The source said EFCC would not engage in a war of words but would release its findings after a thorough investigation.Malami, in a statement by his media aide, Mohammed Doka, on Monday in Abuja, however, described the EFCC investigation as a political witch‑hunt.He confirmed he honored an EFCC invitation on Nov. 28, describing the engagement as fruitful and expressing confidence that the probe would vindicate him.Malami described the EFCC’s allegations as baseless, illogical and devoid of substance, insisting they collapse under factual scrutiny.
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