About 20 state governors are facing criticism from labour unions for failing to implement the N70,000 national minimum wage for local government workers and primary school teachers, nearly nine months after it was signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
The National President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Alhaji Haruna Kankara, disclosed on Sunday that states including Zamfara, Yobe, Gombe, Kaduna, Imo, Ebonyi, Cross River, the Federal Capital Territory, Borno and several others, have yet to begin full implementation of the wage law at the local government and basic education levels.
“We truly have the challenge of so many states, like about 20 that have not started implementing the new minimum wage,” Kankara said, adding that in some states, only state workers have benefited, while LG employees and teachers remain excluded.
President Tinubu signed the Minimum Wage Act into law on July 29, 2024, raising the national minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000. While the policy has been adopted in about 20 states for civil servants, a significant gap remains for grassroots-level workers and teachers.
Kankara said negotiations are ongoing with state authorities to ensure compliance but noted that promises made have often gone unfulfilled. “We are hoping that very soon all of these will be resolved,” he said.
In Kwara State, the NULGE branch confirmed that local government workers have been receiving the new wage since October 2024, but heavy taxation has undermined the benefit. The state’s NLC Chairman, Muritala Olayinka, said a three-month tax holiday granted by the government ended in December, with deductions resuming in January.
Similarly, in Sokoto State, teachers and LG staff have started receiving the new wage since January 2025, albeit delayed due to funding constraints.
However, data from the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) paints a grimmer picture. According to the union, teachers in at least 14 states—including Taraba, Niger, Kogi, Benue, Adamawa, and Abia—have yet to even receive the ₦30,000 minimum wage that was approved in 2019.
A teacher in Yobe lamented that, “We haven’t even benefited from the previous minimum wage. How can someone who didn’t enjoy ₦30,000 talk of ₦70,000?” Others in the FCT expressed similar frustrations, noting persistent strikes and neglect by area council administrators.
Teachers in the FCT recently embarked on their fourth strike in four months to protest non-payment of the new wage, underscoring the mounting frustration among education workers nationwide.
Labour unions have continued to press the Federal Government for urgent intervention to compel defaulting states to comply with the law, warning that failure to do so may trigger nationwide protests or industrial action.
