The Gombe State Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, Musa Mohammed, has called on civil servants in the state to remain calm.

 Mohammed stated this at a joint minimum wage committee meeting which held in the office of  the state Deputy Governor, Manassah Jatau.

He said workers in the state should be calm and appreciate the current situation the state government had found itself.

Mohammed said, “At the last federation allocation, Gombe State lost N800m from its allocation due to the dwindling oil price at the international market.’’

The NLC chairman assured workers that the suspension was temporary, as full implementation of the minimum wage and payment of all arrears would commence when the state’s financial situation improves.

Responding, Jatau said, “The Ministry of Finance is to review the 2020 budget to reflect the reduction in the price of oil in the international market and subsequent adoption of $30 per barrel benchmark by the Federal Government.

“In view of the above, all salaries of political office holders and permanent secretaries will be reviewed accordingly as a sacrifice to the state.”

He said the state revenue service would be strengthened to perform better with a view to reducing the state’s over reliance on federal allocations.

Jatau added that the government would announce new austerity measures to further reduce financial leakage and enhance savings for execution of necessary capital projects.

punch