By Joel igbokwe
Ebonyi state governor, Francis Nwifuru, Thursday, approved a minimum wage of N90,000 for civil servants.
The state commissioner for Information and Orientation, Bart. Ikeuwa Omebe, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the outcome of Wednesday exco meeting in Abakaliki.
Minimum wage for civil servants in Ebonyi state was N75,000 before the latest announcement.
Speaking, Omebe said, “Inline with the avowed determination of His Excellency the Governor to better the lots of Ebonyi civil/public servants, EXCO approved a further increment on the current minimum wage of Ebonyi State workers with an additional Twenty Thousand Naira (N20,000) across board”.
He further disclosed exco decision for eight years tenureship policy for directors in civil service.
“Implementation of the Eight (8) year tenure policy for directors and immediate retirement of all directors who have served Eight (8) years on same cadre in the civil/public service of the state.
“Exco after an exhaustive deliberation on the matter approved immediate implementation of the policy on affected Permanent Secretaries and Directors,” he said.
Further disclosing the decisions by the exco, the commissioner said, “On the proposal for the Ebonyi state government to key into the Albion-Empire and Affiliates One Billion U.S Dollars ($1,000,000,000) grant for developmental purposes, exco approved an endorsement of expression of interest by the state government.
“To correct the prevailing narrative which often focuses on women as the only victims of gender violence, while men are overlooked in some cases as victims themselves in similar context, EXCO approved a Radio Tour across the media houses in the state to bridge the gap in fostering a holistic and sustainable approach towards eradicating gender-based violence in the state.
“Inclusion of Ebonyi Creative Industry in the state government Empowerment programmes via Film Loans/Grants to 20 indigenous Film Producers and purchase of Equipments.
“Exco deliberated extensively on the matter and finally set up a 5-man committee to review the proposal and revert back to Council for further Executive actions.
“The Council took a hard look at the benefits of the proposal especially as it relates to the free internet access opportunities to the student community and the general public and subsequently approved as requested”.