Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of Bauchi has assured the state public workers of his government’s readiness to commence the implementation of N70,000 as national minimum wage this coming month of November, 2024.
The governor explained that the state government has completed all necessary arrangements, including the insertion of the minimum wage into the 2025 budget, and would start the payment of workers’ take home packages this month.
Senator Bala Mohammed was speaking Wednesday in Bauchi while opening the routine State Executive Council (SEC) meeting which has the agenda of scrutinising and approving the 2025 state budget preparatory to presenting it to the Legislature to make its implementation a law.
“I called the Head of Service and directed him with our labour unions, they have just concluded, and in fact impacted into the budget that we are going to pay the minimum wage as from this month of November, Insha-Allah”.
“That we have to implement the minimum wage, because we have to do whatever we believe we would do to put food on the table. So we have to look at the budget, look at our performance so that we can send estimates to the State Assembly to pass as per what we have learnt from the World Bank.”
Mohammed expressed concern over a recent National Bureau of Statistics report listing Bauchi among states with high poverty levels.
He described the report as a wake-up call, urging council members to intensify efforts to deliver impactful projects to the people.
Governor Bala also reiterated his commitment to addressing the backlog of gratuities owed to retired civil servants, appealing for their patience as the government works toward a resolution.
The SEC meeting focused on strategies to improve governance and deliver the dividends of democracy across the state.
