Rivers state Governor, Siminalayi Fubara has announced a new minimum wage of N85,000 for civil servants in the state.
Head of Service of the state, George Nwaeke, announced that the approval was granted by Governor Siminalayi Fubara during a closed-door meeting with labour leaders and senior government officials on Friday.
This announcement is coming after Arbiterz earlier reported that Gov. sanwo-olu of Lagos also recently approved a minimum wage of N85,000 for workers in the state.
What the new minimum wage means for Rivers workers
The approval of the new minimum wage is expected to go a long way in boosting the morale of workers across the state as well as help most rivers families get by in light of the current economic realities of the country.
However, there are fears that the increase in the minimum wage would come with even more hike in the prices of goods and services in the state which already ranks as one of the most expensive states to live in Nigeria.
This implementation of the new minimum wage in Rivers is however a welcome development in line with the initial implementation fears associated with the new minimum wage across the country.
Minimum Wage Compliance Fears
At the announcement of the new minimum wage by the federal government, there were fears that most states would not want to fall in line with the new initiative due to paucity of funds.
Gombe state governor, Inua Yahaya, said, “I cannot pay the minimum wage, and I suspect many other states are in the same predicament.”, Plateau and Kebbi states on the other hand cleverly took the position that they will “negotiate” with the organised labour, after which their final positions would be made known.
The Nigeria Governors Forum in June issued a statement warning that even N60,000 as minimum wage was “not sustainable and cannot fly.” If paid at all, they argued that all their monthly disbursements from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) would be utilised in the payment of salaries, with nothing left for socio-economic development.
As such months after the announcement of the minimum wage on July 29, 27 states are still yet to start the payment of the new minimum wage reinforcing fears that the new minimum wage would be just another policy that is not fully implemented.
Minimum Wage Compliance Level
However, in the months following the announcement of the new minimum wage by the federal government, some states have taken it upon themselves to pay the new minimum wage with some states even engaging in a competition as to which state can pay the most as minimum wage.
States like Lagos and Edo states were at the forefront with N77,000 and N70,000 they started paying as minimum wage when the issue was put on the front burner by organised labour and had not been signed into law.
Lagos state has recently upgraded its minimum wage to N85,000 hoping to upgrade it to N100,000 by January, 2025 to put it alongside Rivers also paying N85,000 as the highest paying states in the federation.
Other states paying the new minimum wage and above are: Delta – N77500, Ogun –N77000, Ondo –N73000; Kogi – N72500; Gombe – N71500; and Edo, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Kwara, Anambra, Adamawa and Kano –N70000. Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun on October 15, 2024 approved a minimum wage of N77,000
Abia state has also announced plans to start paying the N70,000 minimum wage in October to put it in the league of states currently paying the new minimum wage, Anambra Governor Chukwuma Soludo, also disclosed that the state will commence the payment of the N70,000 minimum wage from October 2024. Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, on his part recently announced that the state will commence payment of the new minimum wage starting October 2024.
Relatedly, Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda, and his Osun State and Benue State counterparts have expressed their commitment to implementing the new minimum wage in due time.
Minimum wage Defaulters
Top on the list of new minimum wage defaulters is the FCT, the nation’s seat of power whom checks revealed have not started paying the new minimum wage to its workers three months after the new minimum wage act was signed into law.
This delay in the payment of the new minimum wage by the FCT has led civil servants in the nation’s capital in limbo while corps members are also yet to benefit from the payment of the new minimum wage by the federal government despite the announcement made by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, dated September 25 2024 and signed by the Chairman, Ekpo Nta, in line with the enactment of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024.
Other states yet to commence payment of the new minimum wage include: Oyo, Osun, Plateau, Bauchi, Cross River, Benue, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Katsina, Imo states.
Expectations Going Forward
Going forward, it is expected that implementation of the new minimum wage would soon happen in every state across the country to ensure that every worker in Nigeria enjoys the benefit of the new minimum wage.
Issues such as inflation that renders the new minimum wage is also expected to be fully addressed if the new minimum wage is to have any effect of Nigerian citizens.
