Gov. Ganduje Ends N30,000 Minimum Wage Regime In Kano

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has ended the N30,000 minimum wage regime for civil servants in the state, citing recession and COVID-19 as reason for the stoppage.

The governor made the stoppage public on Thursday while addressing newsmen of government reversal to the former minimum wage of N18,000 for its workers.

Speaking to newsmen, spokesperson to the governor, Salihu Tanko-Yakasai, said the state government has also stopped the payment of N30,000 minimum wage to its workers.

Tanko-Yakasai said the reason for the action is due to the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that the state is unable to continue paying N30,000 because what the state is getting now as a government has reduced.

“The state government has reverted to the initial minimum pay due to the recession. What we are getting now as a government has reduced, and we can’t afford to pay the N30,000 minimum wage,” he told reporters.

According to sources in the state Civil Service who spoke to the news platform, the government did not inform the workers of the latest development.

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“We saw the deduction in our November and then December pay, and nobody told us anything,” a source said, adding: “The pensioners also had deduction in their pay and no reason has been given for this.”

President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2019 signed the new minimum wage act into law, which stipulates N30,000 as the minimum wage.

In December 2019, the Kano State Government agreed with its workers to commence the payment of the new minimum wage, while arrears of April-November, 2019, were to be settled in installments.

As of the time of filing this report, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have yet to react to the development.