Ezekiel Awojide
Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has charged all the 27 Local Government Area chairmen to ensure the swift and effective implementation of the new ₦70,000 minimum wage.
During a high-level meeting held at the Government House, Saturday night, which was attended by the state leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, and Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Zulum directed the LGA chairpersons to come up with a workable solution for the minimum wage implementation.
“All local government chairpersons should go back to their localities, engage with relevant stakeholders, and come up with a workable solution to the salary problem at the local government levels,” Zulum said.
He added, “I want to stress that the payment of ₦72,000 minimum wage has been fully implemented for state civil servants and all primary school teachers in Borno.”
Zulum also warned against retrenchment of staff at the local government level, stating that “We are not in support of staff retrenchment at the local government level as I direct you to institute a mechanism that will lead to the implementation of the minimum wage.”
He added, “I want to appeal to workers at the local government level to be patient. We are working closely with the 27 local governments to ensure the implementation of the minimum wage.”
Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry for Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Modu Alhaji Mustapha, stressed that implementing the ₦70,000 minimum wage for local government staff has been stalled due to the over-bloated number of employees.
According to the Permanent Secretary, Borno’s local government councils are grappling with an unusually high number of staff which he said is complicating the payroll and minimum wage administration.
He revealed that the state’s 27 LGAs collectively employ approximately 90,000 staff, a figure that is strikingly high compared to larger states like Kano, whose population is three times more than Borno’s but maintains a comparatively leaner staff structure of about 30,000 employees across its 44 LGAs.
“While the intention behind the minimum wage increase is laudable, the reality on the ground in Borno is far more complex,” the LG official explained. “Our local governments are already over-stretched, and the current staff level has become an obstacle towards implementing the ₦70,000 minimum wage.”
“To put this into perspective, let us take Maiduguri Metropolitan Council for example, its monthly allocation from the Federal Government is sometimes below ₦700m.
“While this may seem substantial at a glance, the local government needs N778m to pay minimum wage.
“This constitutes the entire monthly income of the LGA. When you consider that the MMC also has to fund other critical services such as public health, water supply, security, and other sectors, the financial strain becomes glaringly apparent.”
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress has commended Zulum for his role in implementing the ₦72,000 minimum wage for primary school teachers in the state.
Chairman of the NLC, Borno State Chapter, Comrade Yusuf Inuwa, made the commendation during the high-level meeting held at the Government House on Saturday.
“Your Excellency, whenever we attend the national executive meetings, the national body is very much happy because primary school teachers are being paid 72,000 as minimum wage,” Comrade Inuwa said.
He also said, “Your Excellency, when I stood up during one of our meetings to announce that primary school teachers are being paid 72,000 in Borno State, I was applauded, and you were highly commended.”
