Governor suspends his Special Adviser over minimum wage

The governor also set up a committee to probe the special adviser.

Governor Umar Namadi of Jigawa State has suspended his Special Adviser on Salary and Pensions, Bashir Ado, over an alleged premature statement on the N70,000 minimum wage.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Bala Ibrahim, in Dutse, on Saturday.

Mr Ibrahim said the government viewed with serious concern a statement circulating in various sections of the media alleging that the governor has approved N70,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the state.

“This sounds embarrassing and pre-mature as the committee headed by Head of the State Civil Service, set up by the government to advise on the appropriate wage is yet to complete its assignment and submit report,” Mr Ibrahim said.

He explained that as a result of the development, the governor has approved the immediate suspension of Mr Ado, pending findings of a committee set up under the chairmanship of the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Bello Abdulkadir.

The SSG added that the committee, which was given two weeks to submit its report, is to investigate the source, actual content of the alleged statement and the motive behind it.

Mr Ibrahim named Sagir Musa, the commissioner for Information, Youth, Sports and Culture, Abdullahi Muhammmad, the commissioner for Health and Muhammad Yahaya, permanent secretary Establishment and Service Matters, office of the SSG as members of the committee.

(NAN)