The National President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Alhaji Haruna Kankara, has revealed that about 20 states are yet to implement the N70,000 new minimum wage for local government workers and primary school teachers.
These 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 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.
