Nigeria’s Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has said state governments have no excuse not to pay civil servants above the recently approved N70,000 minimum wage, citing increased revenue inflows.Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, NECA’s Director-General Adewale Smatt-Oyerinde argued that workers’ welfare must be prioritised in light of rising living costs and the impact of fuel prices.
“With the current revenue distribution, no state really has an excuse to remain at N70,000,” he said.
“Once issues like food security and shelter are addressed, the quantum of the wage can meet the needs of an average household. The focus should be on what N70,000 can buy, not just the figure itself.”
Smatt-Oyerinde stressed that workers are the driving force of both the public and private sectors, and governments should treat them as essential to economic productivity.
“You can’t expect productivity when workers struggle with hunger, shelter, or transport,” he said, urging state governments to view the civil service as the “engine that drives the system.”
His comments come after several states raised wages beyond the federal benchmark. In July 2024, President Bola Tinubu signed the Minimum Wage Act, increasing the national minimum from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000.
Since then, some states have announced higher payments: Imo State approved ₦104,000, Ebonyi ₦90,000, Lagos ₦85,000, and Akwa Ibom, Enugu, and Bayelsa ₦80,000.Osun State also approved ₦75,000 late last year.
Labour unions, however, continue to push for a wage that reflects Nigeria’s inflationary pressures