Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has tasked all 27 local government chairmen in the state to urgently develop actionable strategies for the implementation of the new N70,000 minimum wage for local government workers.
Zulum issued the directive during a high-level meeting held over the weekend at the Government House in Maiduguri. The meeting was attended by key labour stakeholders including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).
“All local government chairpersons should return to their respective areas and engage relevant stakeholders to work out a practical solution for implementing the new minimum wage,” the governor said.
Zulum noted that the N72,000 minimum wage has already been fully implemented for state civil servants and primary school teachers. He appealed to local government workers to be patient while efforts are made to extend the wage increase to them.
“We are not in support of staff retrenchment at the local government level,” Zulum cautioned. “Instead, I direct that mechanisms be put in place to ensure the implementation of the minimum wage without job losses.”
Shedding light on the challenges hindering immediate implementation, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Modu Alhaji Mustapha, pointed to an over-bloated staff roll across the state’s local councils.
According to him, Borno’s 27 LGAs collectively employ about 90,000 workers—three times more than Kano State, which has 44 LGAs and a significantly larger population but only about 30,000 local government employees.
“Our LGAs are overstretched. The staff strength is too high to sustain the new wage structure,” Mustapha said.
He cited Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC) as a case in point, revealing that while its monthly federal allocation sometimes falls below N700 million, it would require at least N778 million just to cover wages under the new salary structure. This, he noted, leaves no room for funding critical services such as healthcare, water supply, and security.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress has commended Governor Zulum for fully implementing the N72,000 minimum wage for primary school teachers in the state.
Chairman of the NLC Borno State Chapter, Comrade Yusuf Inuwa, expressed appreciation during the meeting, noting that the state’s performance has been recognized nationally.
“Your Excellency, during one of our national meetings, when I mentioned that primary school teachers in Borno are receiving N72,000, the hall erupted in applause,” Inuwa said.
He urged the government to maintain the same level of commitment in resolving the wage issue at the local government level, emphasizing the need for equity across all cadres of public workers in the state.