By Abba Gwale
Kano state government has blamed dwindling revenue for forcing it to deduct the state workers’ salary.
The goverment, however, reaffirmed its commitment to continue with implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage for civil servants when economy gets back to normal.
In a press release, the Commissioner of Information, Mallam Muhammad Garba, said the deduction in November/December workers’ salary was a temporary measure informed by the drop in federal allocations and dwindling internally generated revenue occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Garba added that the deduction was necessary to keep the government going in the face of the prevailing economic recession facing almost every states and the country.
He also said that the state government took the decision to revert to old payment system instead of more drastic measures like paying half salary, in batches, or layoffs.
Garba explained that some of the temporary measures taken by the government include cutting allowances of political appointees during the first wave of the pandemic between March and July, last year.
He, therefore, assured that as soon as the state of affairs improved, the state government would not hesitate to pay workers in its employ the full salary.
He then requested the support and cooperation of the entire workforce in the state to bear with the situation and stop spreading rumours on the government’s intention.
