Minimum Wage: Soludo Approves N10,000 Salary Award for Pensioners, Donates Land for NLC Secretariat

By Our correspondent

The Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, has approved a monthly nontaxable cash award of N10,000 to all pensioners in the state until pensions are reviewed.

This interim cash award was necessitated by his goodwill and empathy for the situation of pensioners who are often overlooked in discussions about the new minimum wage.

Soludo announced this at the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia, during a meeting with labour leaders in the state.

He also approved the immediate payment of the new minimum wage, ensuring that the least paid worker in Anambra State will receive at least N70,000, with the possibility of more, ranging between N78,000 to N84,000, depending on the outcome of the government’s tabulation.

The organized labour leaders, led by Chairman Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Humphrey Emeka Nwafor and Trade Union Congress Chairman Comrade Chris Ogbonna, were present at the meeting.

The Chairman, Anambra JNC, Comrade Edith Onwuka, was also in attendance, along with representatives from various unions, including the NUJ, JUSUN, NULGE, NUT, and NUP.

Soludo assured the organized labour that his government is committed to a better-secured Anambra and announced that the state will soon receive hundreds of security vehicles for vigilant groups and other security agencies.

He encouraged workers to consider the Contributory Pension scheme to avoid pension-related issues, emphasizing that the earlier the state workers return to the scheme, the better for them.

The NLC Chairman thanked Soludo for being worker-friendly and requested that he continue to do more for Anambra workers.

He also announced that the Governor had donated a piece of land for the construction of the NLC state Secretariat, known as Workers House, which was previously impossible since Anambra’s creation in 1991, describing it as unprecedented.