As workers insist there is a need to adjust their salaries taking into consideration the consequential effect of the new minimum wage, state civil servants in Nigeria have shifted attention to the payment of the arrears.
The new monthly minimum wage was raised by 133% from 30,000 to 70,000, amid the economic hardship eroding millions of Nigerians’ purchasing power.
Negotiations between the federal and state governments, organised labour, and the private sector took some time, and when all was over, state governors asked that they be given till the end of October to enable them to put their finances in order. Subsequently, about 20 states revealed their implementation of the new wage law, which sees them pay N70,000 approved by the FG.
The states are Bayelsa, Niger, Lagos, Rivers, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Kebbi, Ondo, Jigawa, Gombe, Kogi, Ogun, among others. A report by The Nation on Sunday, November 10, disclosed a fresh battle was looming over the arrears. According to the media platform, several states are already looking forward to receiving arrears of the new minimum wage as state chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) are currently in negotiations over its payment.
source: legit.ng