27 States, FCT Yet To Set Up Minimum Wage Panel

Despite the speedy passage of the minimum wage bill by the National Assembly and signing of the bill by the President, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and twenty-seven states are yet to set up committees to implement the recently approved N70,000 minimum wage.

,,,,,,Recall that President Bola Tinubu recently signed into law the new minimum wage after its passage by the National Nssembly.

Reports revealed that, Plateau, Kebbi, Sokoto, Nasarawa, Bayelsa, Delta, Osun, Ekiti, Zamfara, Benue, Enugu, Taraba, Gombe, Kogi, Enugu, Adamawa, Niger, Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi, Oyo, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Katsina, Kaduna, Cross River and Yobe are yet to act on the implementation of the law.

However, seven other states which include, Kano, Kwara, Ogun, Borno, Jigawa, Ondo, and Abia have set up implementation committees.

Meanwhile, only Lagos and Edo claimed to have started paying the minimum wage.

,,,,,The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, who spoke with Punch, on Saturday, said the state had been paying more than the minimum wage before it was passed into law.

According to him, “When you look at the minimum wage that was paid in Lagos before, the least state worker earned about N77,000. So, if they said the minimum wage is now N70,000, we have no problem with it at all because Lagos has been paying more than that, and we will continue to pay.”

The Edo State Government also said it had started paying the minimum wage.

,,,,,On August 1, 2024, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State, who also doubles as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, set up an 18-member tripartite committee to work out modalities for the new minimum wage payment.

The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, said the committee, comprising representatives from the state government, labour unions, and the Organised Private Sector, had started meeting.

Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano also set up an advisory committee on the new,,,,,minimum wage, while the Jigawa State Government set up a 10-man minimum wage committee on Thursday, August 8.

Similarly, the Borno State Government recently inaugurated a 22-member panel, while the Ondo State government said its committee on the new minimum wage was working hard to ensure its implementation.

,,,,,The Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, also said the state set up a committee a few months ago to advise the government on the matter.

He said, “Oyo State government set up a committee a few months ago, comprising labour stakeholders and government officials, to advise on the implementation of the minimum wage.”

The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, on Friday, said the state set up a committee before the Federal Government signed the bill into law.

“We are making provisions for the salary increase in line with the new minimum wage,” he added.

,,,,,However, the Gombe State Governor and Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, Inuwa Yahaya, said the lean allocation to the state would make it difficult for him to pay the new wage.

,,,,,Speaking on Tuesday during a meeting with stakeholders on the nationwide protest, ‘#EndBadGovernance, Yahaya said, “I cannot pay the ₦70,000 minimum wage, and I suspect many other states are in the same predicament.”

,,,,,Similarly, the Kogi State Commissioner for Finance, Ashiwaju Ashiru Idris, said no date had been fixed for the implementation of the minimum wage by the state.