Benue government, NLC open up on lower minimum wage allegation for civil servants

The Benue State Government and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) have dismissed rumors suggesting plans to set the minimum wage for state civil servants at N40,000, instead of the N71,000 recently signed into law by the president.

Social media platforms across the state were abuzz with claims that Governor Alia had proposed a minimum wage of N40,000 during a meeting with workers, sparking concern among the public.

Solomon Iorpev, Technical Adviser on Media, Publicity, and Communication to the Governor, clarified this while reacting to the report making the round.

Similarly, the secretary of the Benue State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joshua Abimiku, debunked the rumour, saying: What was put forward, and then I think, one is N70,000, the other is N75,000 and then N77,000. So, the one we opted for was that of the 75,000.

“Plans and all other arrangements have been concluded but we didn’t know why it was not implemented this month. But we are giving the government the benefit of the doubt. I mean, today is the first of November already. So, this month it will be implemented as well.

“Nobody’s paying less. N40,000 is less than the national minimum wage and I don’t think any governor has even. That was in the past all those things. I saw those things circulating in the past but that information is not correct”.Abimiku said.

“We had hoped that it would come in that last month, but we don’t know why [the delay]. So, let’s hope that this month it will be implemented.”