Governor Umaru Bago of Niger has dismissed rumours of a rift with the state’s Deputy Governor, Yakubu Garba, saying they have a perfect and harmonious working relationship.
Bago dismissed the rumors in an interview with journalists, shortly after his speech at the 2025 International Workers Day celebration in Minna on Thursday.
“We are a team and they can’t break us. Our focus is on the goal and we will achieve it. A New Niger is possible,” he said.
The governor, however, appreciated workers’ sacrifices to the state and nation, thanking them for their perseverance and faith in government.
He commended teachers for their sacrifices and nationalism in ensuring children become important people in society because they were backbone of the educational system.
He assured workers that the state government would work to ensure that civil servants got their entitlement after retirement on time.
Bago announced that the state government was working with Chinese investors to establish electric vehicles company in the state, making cars affordable for civil servants.
He thanked health workers for their patriotism and promised to improve their welfare.
The governor also announced plans to build 10,000 housing units for civil servants to make life easier for the workers.
Earlier in his welcome address, Comrade Idrees Lafene, Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress in Niger, commended Bago for his worker-friendly policies, which had improved welfare of civil servants in the state.
“As we join workers across the globe to mark the 2025 International Workers’ Day, we do so under a powerful theme: ‘Reclaiming the Civic Space in the Midst of Economic Hardship.’”
Lafene, represented by Ibrahim Gana, Chairman of Trade Union Congress, listed achievements of the governor to include the implementation of the N80,000 minimum wage.
Others are resumption of gratuity payments, distribution of palliatives and gifts to workers, and payment of wage awards to civil servants.
He disclosed that the union resolved to confer the prestigious Worker Hero Award on the governor in recognition of his outstanding service to the working class and the people of the state.
Lafene identified critical challenges that required urgent attention to include the implementation of promotions and annual step increments and payment of hazard, medical, and disturbance allowances for judiciary workers, among others.
He said labour was not an enemy but a partner in progress and demanded the implementation of a minimum pension policy to aligned with the N80,000 minimum wage.
He called for urgent revitalisation of decaying infrastructure in tertiary institutions, secondary schools, and healthcare facilities, and the review of the current policy on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) retention by tertiary institutions.
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Speaker of the Niger House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, represented by Abubakar Gomna, emphasised the legislature’s commitment to collaborative efforts with workers in the development of the state.
Sarkindaji said the doors of the legislature wer widely opened for workers to address their concerns and improve their welfare.
Also speaking, Sen. Sani Musa, representing Niger East Senatorial Zone, highlighted the National Assembly’s ongoing efforts to reform the tax system.
Musa said that the President had directed that civil servants earning less than a million naira per month be relieved of paying tax.
He appealed for more support and cooperation from labour leaders and workers, emphasising the importance of collaboration in achieving the goals of the tax reform initiative.
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