•LG workers, teachers in Zamfara, C’River, Abia, others yet to get minimum wage

The National President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Alhaji Haruna Kankara, on Sunday, said about 20 states have yet to implement the N70,000 new minimum wage for local government workers and primary school teachers.

The states include Yobe, Gombe, Zamfara, Kaduna, Imo, Ebonyi, Cross River, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Borno and 11 others.

The NULGE leader disclosed this in response to questions from The PUNCH on the implementation of the new minimum wage with reference to the LG workers and primary school teachers in the country.

Following the signing of the Minimum Wage Act, 2024 into law, about 20 states commenced the implementation of the new wage law.

The states included Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Niger, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Jigawa, Gombe, Ogun, Kebbi, Ondo, Kogi and others.

President Bola Tinubu signed the N70,000 minimum wage bill into law on July 29, 2024, after months of negotiations with labour unions.

The new monthly minimum wage was raised by 133 percent from N30,000 to N70,000, amid the economic hardship in the country.

Giving an update on the implementation of the law, Kankara said, “We truly have the challenge of so many states, like about 20 that have not started implementing the new minimum wage.

“We have states like Sokoto, Yobe, Gombe, Zamfara, Kaduna, Imo, Ebonyi, Borno, Cross Rivers, FCT Abuja, among others. Some have started paying the state workers leaving out the local government workers and primary school teachers but we have continued to engage and plead with them to do the needful for these workers.

“Some of them promised but failed to fulfil their promise but we are hoping that just very soon all of these would have been resolved.”

On the implementation of the LG autonomy, the NULGE leader explained that the Central Bank has yet to communicate with the councils on the opening of bank accounts.

“What the union has always demanded is for the Central Bank of Nigeria to issue a circular for the local government to open an account with them but up till now, that is yet to be done,” he disclosed.

The Kwara State President of NULGE, Seun Oyinlade, said the state government started paying the N70,000 to the state workers in October 2024.

However, he lamented that the heavy taxation imposed by the government on the workers has reduced the workers’ take home pay.

“The implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage approved for the workers in the state have been implemented for local government staff since October 2024 but the heavy taxes imposed by the state government have greatly affected the take home pay of our members.

“When the state branch of the Nigeria Labour Congress appealed to the state government to reduce the taxes, the government only gave the workers three months of tax relief, which has ended in December 2024 but the government has started deducting the tax since January,” he added.

The NLC state chairman, Muritala Olayinka, confirmed that the state government had started payment of the new salary to all categories of workers in the state.

He noted, “The Kwara State government started the implementation of the new minimum wage to all categories of workers since October last year and all workers have started enjoying the new salary.

“Although the workers complained of high taxation which the NLC made an appeal for one year tax holiday but the government only approved three months tax holiday for the workers which had ended in December.

“The congress had since written a letter to the governor for the extension of the tax holiday. We are waiting for a reply from the government, and we hope it is going to be positive.”

A teacher in Sokoto confirmed that the state government has implemented the new minimum wage for teachers and local government workers in the state.


https://punchng.com/20-governors-under-fire-for-delaying-n70k-minimum-wage/