Borno governor speaks on new national minimum wage payment

Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum has said the state will implement the national minimum wage from October, despite the its financial challenges.

Mr Zulum announced this on Thursday at a meeting with the Committee on the Minimum Wage and the state’s Debt Management Office in Maiduguri.

The governor thanked the two bodies for their efforts, urging them to make realistic recommendations, considering the state’s current predicament.

“The recent flood has taken almost all of our resources. We are also providing humanitarian support to the people in camps,” he said, highlighting the state’s financial burdens.

Mr Zulum said there would be transparency in the implementation of the new minimum wage, and pointed out the large financial requirement.

“Given the large number of workers under the local government service, we need nothing less than N6 billion to pay the LG workers even if they are to be paid as Grade Level 1 staff,” he explained.

Mr Zulum noted the challenge of the non-uniform salary structure within local governments, yet affirmed that “Borno is still doing better than some states in terms of salary payments.”

“Some pensioners are taking as low as N4000 for their monthly pension,” he said, echoeing the pensioners’ Chairperson.

Succor for Unpaid Deceased Retirees

The governor presented a ₦3 billion cheque to the pensioners’ association to settle its deceased members’ gratuities, acknowledging the hardships faced by the bereaved families. He also promised an upward review of pensions, saying the current amounts are inadequate.

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Husseini Mamman, the chairman of the Pensioners Association, expressed gratitude to the government for stepping in to support the families of deceased retired workers. He highlighted the struggles of the families due to the unpaid retirement benefits of their loved ones.