The Kaduna State Executive Council has approved the payment of N30,000 minimum wage, and payment is expected to begin from the 1st of September 2019. This makes Kaduna the first State to officially approve the payment of the new N30,000 minimum wage.
The disclosure was made available to pressmen on Monday after the State Executive council meeting which was chaired by the deputy governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe.
The details: The State executive council rose from its Monday meeting to approve the payment of the new national minimum wage to civil servants. According to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media & Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye, the council deliberated on the minimum wage memo and unanimously approved the commencement of the implementation in September 2019.
Adekeye disclosed: “The Executive Council stated it’s 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.
Commenting on the development, the Deputy Governor, emphasized the commitment of Governor Nasir El-Rufai to strengthen the public service and its capacity to deliver quality and responsive public service.
“The council deliberated on the minimum wage memo and unanimously approved commencement of the implementation in September 2019. The Executive Council stated that its commitment to the public service includes a desire to improve the standard of living of workers in the state.”
The implementation: While explaining how the executive reached the decision, Dr. Hadiza disclosed that State Government launched a pay review process early in 2018, and this was guided by the twin principles of ability to pay and sustainability. The deputy governor also noted that paying the minimum wage would raise the state monthly salary outlay to N3.75 billion.
The deputy governor disclosed the following:
“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.
“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 the 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 N2.827 billion.”
Pensioners benefit: Similarly, with the new N3.75 billion monthly budget for salary payment, N1 billion has now been earmarked to meet pension commitments.
Dr. Hadiza said: “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 meeting 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%”
Bottom line: While revenue short-fall across most states in Nigeria currently constitutes a major challenge delaying implementing the new minimum wage, this is a welcome development as the new minimum wage approval will undoubtedly improve the lots of the citizens. This also suggests more financially viable states may equally begin the new minimum wage payment.
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