Niger State has initiated the disbursement of wage awards to its workforce following a directive from President Bola Tinubu during his recent visit to commission projects in the state.
The Commissioner for Information, Binta Mamman, confirmed this development, stating that Governor Mohammed Bago had ordered the immediate commencement of the wage award.
The state, with over 80,000 workers across state and local government levels, will pay each worker ₦20,000 as part of the agreement between the state’s organized Labour and the government.
Workers in the local governments began receiving their wage awards on Thursday, with pensioners scheduled to receive theirs subsequently.
However, some civil servants expressed dismay over deductions ranging from N1000 to N900 from the ₦20,000 amount when they received their alerts.
Idrees Lafene, the Niger State Nigeria Labour Congress Chairman, confirmed that Governor Bago agreed to commence payment at the end of March, despite the initial agreement being for a higher amount.
Tinubu, in his address during the commissioning, urged governors to prioritize paying the N30,000 wage award and existing salaries of their workers, emphasizing the importance of relieving the people through timely payments.
