The Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, has said the state is targeting N1m as minimum wage for the state civil servants.
Bago made this known on Friday at the Government House where he announced a new minimum wage of N80,000 for the state workforce.
The governor disclosed this after an extensive meeting with the leadership of the state Nigeria Labour Congress.
The governor said, “This N80,000 is sustainable. We are sure that with our stride in agriculture, we can pay. We are creating civil service farm so that civil servants can be productive. With that, we are sure that we can do N1 million as minimum wage.”
The governor assured that the new minimum wage would cut across the state and local government civil servants, noting that the state had already paid October’s salary.
He said the new minimum wage would start in November.
The NLC chairman in the state, Idrees Lafene, said he was excited about the development, adding that the governor exceeded his expectations.
The chairman who admitted that N80,000 was not commensurate with the high cost of living noted that the money couldn’t buy a bag of rice as of now. “It is not commensurate with a bag of rice but at least, it is a step forward,” he added.
