Kaduna govt: We’ll start paying N30k minimum wage from Sept

The Kaduna state executive council has approved payment of the new national minimum wage and consequential adjustments to civil servants with effect from September 1, 2019.

According to Muyiwa Adekeye, media aide of Nasir el-Rufai, governor of the state, the decision was taken at an executive council meeting chaired by Hadiza Balarabe, deputy governor.

Balarabe was quoted as saying the development shows the commitment of el-Rufai to strengthen the public service.

She said the council deliberated on the minimum wage memo and unanimously approved commencement of the implementation in September 2019.

“The Executive Council stated its that commitment to the public service includes a desire to improve the standard of living of workers in the state. Pursuant to that, the Kaduna State Government launched a pay review process early in 2018. A cabinet committee was charged with exploring how the Kaduna State Government can sustainably improve public sector salaries,” Adekeye said in a statement.

“Guided by the twin principles of ability to pay and sustainability, the government considered several scenarios, bearing in mind the trend of internally generated revenues and allocations from the federation account. Several salary scenarios were considered, and one option was identified as most prudent. A final decision was suspended as negotiations for a new national minimum wage appeared to gather momentum. It was reactivated after the Federal Government announced the new national minimum wage in April 2019.

“Paying the new national minimum wage and consequential adjustments will increase the wage bill of the Kaduna State Government by 33%. Gross monthly salary outlay will rise to N3.759bn from the current N2.827bn.

“This almost N1bn monthly increase in the wage bill means that salary and pension commitments will take the lion’s share of state government expenditure. Meeting these salary obligations while achieving development objectives for citizens will further raise the pressure to expand and deepen revenue sources and collections.

“According to the new wage structure, the lowest paid workers in the civil service enjoyed increments of as much as 67%. Middle-ranking officers from Grade 10 to 14 were awarded increments of 60%.”

The federal government had approved N30,000 minimum wage after a series of discussions with stakeholders, including the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).