Ebonyi State Government has announced an upward review of the minimum wage for civil servants from N70,000 to N90,000. The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Chief Ikeuwa Omebe, disclosed this on Thursday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the state Executive Council meeting.
Omebe explained that the increment was aimed at improving workers’ welfare and would take immediate effect, covering all categories of the state workforce. “We want to state categorically that this is not a political statement, as this government does not toy with workers’ welfare,” he said.
The commissioner also revealed that the government had cleared pension and gratuities of state retirees from the creation of Ebonyi in 1996 to date. He added that the verification process for retirees in Local Government Areas had commenced, and payments would follow its completion.
“If the government did not play politics with such huge financial obligations, it would not do so with additional N20,000 to workers,” Omebe stated. He further described the governor as “a leader, builder of capacity, human beings and infrastructure,” stressing that the administration was anchored on the biblical people’s charter of needs mantra.
Omebe also confirmed that the Executive Council considered the implementation of the eighth-year tenure policy for directors. According to him, the decision included the immediate retirement of those who had served in the same cadre for the specified period.
“The EXCO exhaustively deliberated on the issue and approved its implementation for the affected permanent secretaries and directors,” he said.