The Zamfara government says it will implement the N70,000 minimum wage soon.

Its head of service, Ahmad Liman, who disclosed this at a press briefing in Gusau on Wednesday, reiterated Governor Dauda Lawal’s administration’s commitment to promoting the welfare of the civil servants.

He said Mr Lawal has already promised to pay N70,000 minimum wage to the state civil servants.

“You know, the state government set up a committee for the civil servants’ verification and that of the implementation of the 70,000 minimum wage. The two committees have been working day and night to complete the exercise,” he said.

Mr Liman emphasised that the committee’s responsibility was to provide an accurate framework of civil servants’ data in the state for immediate implementation of the minimum wage.

“The welfare of workers is a top priority for our administration. I am very confident that the implementation of the new minimum is the top priority agenda of Governor Lawal.

“The two committees conducting the ongoing exercises are expected to complete their work by the end of this month of November,” he stated.

Mr Liman said that as soon as the committees complete their work and present their report to the governor, he will approve the new minimum wage.

The head of service mentioned ghost workers and overpayment among the irregularities discovered at the ongoing verification exercise.

“We discovered a single general hospital in the state with 22 medical doctors receiving salaries monthly. The ongoing exercise discovered only two doctors are real workers in that hospital. All the remaining 20 doctors were fake workers.

“There was also an issue of a secondary school teacher receiving N140,000 as his monthly salary, but the committee discovered that he was receiving N700,000,” he explained.

Mr Liman further disclosed another issue of a medical doctor receiving N700,000 as his monthly salary, but he was discovered by the committee to have received over N1 million.

“There are a lot of issues related to the civil service sector in the state, I believe at the end of the ongoing exercise, the details of the findings of the committee will be made available to the public.

“I am therefore appealing to the civil servants in the state to remain calm, the state government under Governor Dauda Lawal is committed to their welfare,” he explained.

(NAN)