Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has directed the 27 Local Government Area (LGA) chairmen to take immediate steps towards implementing the new N70,000 minimum wage for council workers.

Mr Zulum gave the directive on Sunday during a high-level meeting with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) at the Government House, Maiduguri.

He urged local government chairpersons to return to their localities, engage stakeholders and develop a workable solution for the salary problem at the local government level.

The governor said the new minimum wage of N72,000 had already been fully implemented for state civil servants and all primary school teachers.

He, however, cautioned against the retrenchment of workers as a means of solving salary challenges.

“We are not in support of staff retrenchment at the local government level. I direct you to institute a mechanism that will lead to the implementation of the minimum wage. I appeal to local government workers to be patient as we work closely with all 27 LGAs to ensure this is achieved,” Zulum said.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Modu Mustapha, said that the implementation of the minimum wage at the local government level was being delayed by an over-bloated workforce.

According to him, the LGAs in Borno State collectively have about 90,000 staff, compared to Kano State’s 30,000 staff across its 44 LGAs, despite its larger population.

Mr Mustapha said, “Our LGAs are overstretched. For example, Maiduguri Metropolitan Council receives less than N700 million as allocation from the Federation Account. Yet, it requires N778 million to pay salaries at the N70,000 minimum wage rate. This leaves nothing for other critical services like health, water supply, security and infrastructure,”

In his remarks, the Chairman of the NLC in Borno, State, Yusuf Inuwa, commended the state government for fully implementing the N72,000 minimum wage for primary school teachers.

He said, “Your Excellency, whenever we attend national executive meetings, the national body is very happy because Borno State is among the few states that pay N72,000 minimum wage to primary school teachers.’’

(NAN)