Gov. Bassey Otu.
By Anietie Akpan
The Cross River State Government has described recent media reports that the state has not paid the N70,000 minimum wage as “false, unfounded, and a gross misrepresentation of facts.”
In a statement issued on Monday, April 7, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Mr. Nsa Gill, said it is not true that the state is among the states yet to implement the minimum wage.
Accordingly, the Chief Press Secretary urged the public to disregard the misleading reports, assuring Cross Riverians and Nigerians that, the state government remains focused on prioritizing the well-being of its workforce and the residents alike.
He regretted that the misleading report was published in one of the reputable national dailies, The Punch Newspaper, without proper verification.
“Our attention has been drawn to a misleading report in The Punch and some other media platforms, falsely listing Cross River among states that are yet to implement the new N70,000 minimum wage for workers,” Gill said adding, “this report is entirely false.”
He emphasized that Governor Bassey Edet Otu’s administration is “one of the first in the country” to fully implement the new wage structure as early as December 2024.
“The implementation cut across both the state and local government services, with full consequential adjustments, and workers are already benefiting from the new wage structure,” he noted.
Gill noted that such a misleading publication is a sensitive report and it would only be fair for the same news platforms to publish the verified position of the Cross River State government.
The facts clearly stated by the state government, he said, can be easily verified by stakeholders such as the State Chairmen of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).
“Governor Otu’s administration remains fully committed to the welfare and upliftment of workers in Cross River State…Salaries have continued to be paid regularly and without fail”, he said.