Niger govt to commence payment of N30,000 new minimum wage January

Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has reiterated the commitment of the state government to commence the payment of the new national minimum wage January.

The governor made the disclosure when he played host to the Chairmen of the 25 Local Government Councils in the state, who were on a solidarity visit to him on Tuesday, over the recent Supreme Court‘s verdict, affirming his election as the duly elected governor of the state.

Governor Bello said that a committee has been set up already and considerable progress has been made in an ongoing negotiation to begin the implementation of the new minimum wage.

“At the moment, our top priority is to address those that have been affected directly by the minimum wage and what it means is anyone who is below the minimum wage policy”.

“I have given the directive that it should be implemented this January so that those that are entitled or fall within the class of minimum wage will get it”, he said.

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He stated further that those that were not directly affected by the N30, 000 minimum wage will be taken care of in the next phase which is the consequential adjustment.

“If you implement the new minimum wage, then you find out that there will be the need for consequential adjustments for all”, he maintained.

The governor noted that paying salaries is not just the only function of government, saying, “that at the moment, 80 per cent of the state’s income goes into salary payment”.

He, however, expressed his displeasures that the state’s civil servants were not enjoying the best as they should, stressing that, with a workforce of no fewer than 27, 000, and the state’s population of over 4 million, executing capital projects and paying salaries regularly have been extremely difficult.