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.

Abdullahi Umar said all the workers in the state have been enjoying the new salaries since January.

“We have been paid the new minimum wage with effect from January. Although the implementation was delayed due to FAAC allocation. We received the January and February payment a few weeks ago,” he said.

An LG worker, Usman Abdullah, corroborated Umar, stating that N50,000 was added to their old salary.

“They added N50,000 naira to our salary, but the last minimum wage of N30,000 naira was not implemented at the local government level. This administration added N 50,000 to our old salary as our minimum wage benefit,’’ he pointed out.

Meanwhile, data obtained from the National Union of Teachers revealed that some teachers have yet to be paid the N30,000 minimum wage of 2019.

The data revealed that Zamfara, Yobe, Taraba, Sokoto, Niger, Kogi, Kaduna, Imo, Gombe, Cross River, Borno, Benue, Adamawa and Abia State have yet to implement the N30,000 minimum wage for teachers.

Some LG teachers appealed for the Federal Government’s intervention.

A teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of victimization, said, “For us in Yobe, we haven’t even benefited from the previous minimum wage, how can someone who didn’t even enjoy N30,000 talk of enjoying the N70,000. We appeal to the president to please intervene.”

A teacher in the Bwari Area Council of the FCT lamented the neglect of the LG workers and teachers by the FCT Administration.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said, “In FCT, not only teachers are involved but all other categories of LG workers. Last month, we went on strike, and we resumed after a few days due to negotiation. It is so unfair the way LG workers are being treated in this country.’’

On March 24, 2025, teachers in public primary schools in the FCT embarked on the fourth strike in four months.

The teachers boycotted the classes twice in December last year and once in February this year.

They were protesting the non-implementation of the N70,000 national minimum wage by the chairmen of the six area councils.

The latest strike disrupted the second term examinations in most of the schools across the six area councils.

Announcing the strike in a communique issued at the end of an emergency State Wing Standing Committee meeting, the teachers emphasised that one of the critical agreements reached during previous negotiations was the implementation of the new minimum wage for primary school teachers in February 2025, which formed the basis for suspending the previous strike.

The union expressed disappointment over the payment process, stating, “The payment of February salary by the councils without recourse to the union and the New Minimum Wage is disturbing, disheartening, and lacking in sympathy for the plight of primary school Teachers in the FCT.”

The SWSC questioned the ongoing financial burden on teachers, asking, “Why the continuous impoverishing of the impoverished? Why impose continuous hardship and suffering on the teachers and their families? Enough Is Enough!”

The communique outlined several demands, including immediate implementation of the national minimum wage in February salaries, with the payment of the differential between the old and new wages.

It demanded “The payment of March salaries according to the new minimum wage; Disbursement of six months’ worth of minimum wage arrears as previously agreed and immediate steps towards implementing various allowances, including a 40 percent peculiar allowance and additional salary increases.’’

The National President of the NUT, Titus Amba and Secretary General, Mike Ene, could not be reached for comment on Sunday as calls to their phones indicated they were switched off.

The Secretary-General of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Mohammed Abubakar, told The PUNCH that state commissioners of finance were frustrating the direct payment of allocation to the councils, which has affected the finances of the LGAs.

Credit: PUNCH