Possible Strike Looms in Five States and FCT Over Minimum Wage

A strike is imminent in the Federal Capital Territory and five states, including Cross River, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Kaduna, and Zamfara, as workers demand the implementation of the new N70,000 minimum wage. The Nigeria Labour Congress had directed workers in 14 states and the FCT to embark on industrial action over the non-implementation of the new minimum wage.

In Nasarawa State, the NLC chairman, Ismaila Okoh, stated that a notice of strike had been issued to all labour members, despite the state government’s agreement to pay N70,500 to workers. However, no document has been signed regarding the implementation. Okoh said, “We have notified all our members to embark on strike tomorrow (today) because of the non-implementation of the national minimum wage in the state. Although the minimum wage committee set up by the state government has agreed to start paying N70,500, no document has been signed to that effect up till this moment.”

In Kaduna State, the government claimed to have commenced the implementation of the new minimum wage, with the least-paid worker receiving N72,000 as gross salary in November. Nevertheless, the state chapter of the NLC confirmed its planned strike. The state’s chairman of the NLC, Ayuba Suleiman, said, “Yes, we are set for the strike.” However, the Kaduna State Government, through its Chief Press Secretary, Ibraheem Musa, insisted that it had complied with the National Minimum Wage Law. Musa noted, “His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, has complied with the spirit and letter of the National Minimum Wage Law, by paying the lowest paid civil servant N72,000 last month.”

Musa explained that the state government received an average of N8bn from the Federal Allocation and generated around N4bn monthly, totalling N12bn revenue. However, he said with the implementation of the minimum wage, the monthly wage bill had increased from N5.4bn to N6.3bn, including N4bn deduction for loan payments every month. This, he said, left only N2bn for rural transformation, healthcare, education, and other public services in the state. Musa urged the NLC to exercise patience over the consequential adjustments, pending when the state government’s revenue improved. “Governor Uba Sani is labour-friendly. He has demonstrated this by providing buses for civil servants to commute to work free of charge, as part of the palliatives to cushion the prevailing economic challenges,” he said.

The Ebonyi State chapter of the NLC also directed workers to join the ongoing industrial action, citing the failure of the state government to implement the new minimum wage. The Chairman of the NLC in Ebonyi State, Dr Oguguo Egwu, disclosed that the state workers had been directed to join the strike. According to him, the warning strike, which will last one week, was sequel to the failure of Governor Francis Nwifuru to implement the new national minimum wage. Egwu said, “Talking about the new national minimum wage as it concerns Ebonyi State, our governor on September 11 at the Ojiji festival of Izzi Kingdom announced the new minimum wage of N70,000 and we are all aware of that. We were very happy and excited that Ebonyi would be among the first states to implement the wage. But subsequently, there was no communication and no information.”

The Zamfara State NLC secretary, Ahmed Abubakar, stated that workers in the state had yet to receive the new minimum wage and would join the strike. Abubakar said, “We are going to join the strike as directed by the national body of our great union to express our anger over the non-payment of the new minimum wage.” He, however, explained that the union would continue to dialogue with the state government on the issue.

In Cross River, the state government reached an agreement with the NLC and TUC to pay the N70,000 wage to workers, but it was unclear whether the strike would still commence. The Cross River State Chairman of the NLC, Gregory Ulayi, had earlier disclosed that the union would embark on an indefinite strike if the state government failed to implement the new minimum wage to workers.