Bayelsa State Government has agreed to implement a minimum wage of N80,000 for local government council employees, following persistent pressure from the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress.
The government also assured that it would include the differentials from ongoing discussions about the new minimum wage template in the December salary payments.
The state’s acting governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, made this announcement during a meeting at the Government House in Yenagoa on Tuesday.
Present at the meeting were members of the state minimum wage implementation committee and chairpersons from the eight local government councils, alongside representatives from the NLC, TUC, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Nigerian Union of Teachers, and the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, among others.
Ewhrudjakpo urged labor unions to calculate their own figures for the consequential adjustment and reconcile them with the state’s team, ensuring the differentials are added to the December salaries.
He emphasized that the agreement to implement the N80,000 minimum wage was reached with the full support of all key stakeholders, including the local government chairmen.
On the issue of the federal government’s circular regarding the increase in pensioners’ remuneration, Ewhrudjakpo assured that the state would review it and revealed that a N10,000 increase for all pensioners had already been approved.
He noted, however, that Bayelsa could not adopt the federal government’s template for the new minimum wage due to financial limitations.
“We have agreed that the minimum wage for the local governments should also be N80,000,” he said. “Now the difference is the consequential adjustment, which we think we cannot use the Federal Government’s consequential adjustment because the Federal Government’s rates are higher. Secondly, the Federal Government has ways and means, but both state and local governments do not have such powers. So, as we go for the consequential adjustment, we will look at what we can carry, and I need all of us to put the survival of Bayelsa State and our councils at the back of our minds as we negotiate.”
He also pointed out the need for balanced priorities, emphasizing, “We should not fail to understand that the resources that come to the state or local government are not meant for those of us who are politicians and civil servants. The truth is that we constitute only about 15 per cent of those who earn income as salaries. The majority of our people earn social services such as health facilities, education, security, roads, bridges, and other amenities that are also being provided from those same resources. So, I really want to appeal to labour to show understanding.”
In response, the state NLC chairman, Comrade Simon Barnabas, expressed gratitude to the government for approving the new minimum wage.
However, he called on the government to adopt the federal government’s template for the consequential adjustment and approve the N32,000 pension increment recommended in the recent federal circular.
