By Kolawole Ojebisi
The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has expressed fears about the capacity of the local governments across the country to pay the N70,000 new minimum wage to primary school teachers.
The NUT’s apprehension is informed by the failure of the councils to implement the former N30,000 minimum wage.
As shown by findings LG workers in some states, particularly in the North, have remained on the N18,000 minimum wage, which was approved in 2011.
Among the states that failed to implement the scheme, which has even become obsolete with the new minimum wage, are Nasarawa, Enugu, Zamfara, Borno, Yobe, and Kogi.
However, the inability of the councils to implement the minimum wage has been blamed on the failure of the government to fully implement the LG autonomy.
Data obtained from the NUT revealed that teachers in LG primary schools were not paid the former minimum wage.
It was gathered that in Enugu State, for instance, LG workers were exempted from benefitting from the minimum wage though the state workers enjoyed the minimum wage salaries.
Also, Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Kogi, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara, Imo and Gombe States did not implement the old minimum wage for teachers at both state and local levels.
Confirming this, the General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Dr. Mike Ene said, “I can tell you that some states didn’t even implement the N18,000 minimum wage for teachers at the local level. Some governors refused to pay stating that the teachers are under the employment of the local governments.
“There should be no form of segregation when it comes to the implementation of the minimum wage. We all go to the same market. There is no specific market for local government workers. However, we commend all the governors who have come out to say that the minimum wage will be implemented across the board.
“Also, the NLC has vowed to shake the country by December should state governments fail to implement the minimum wage so I can tell you that the move by the NLC will force things into play.”
But NULGE president Ambali assured that the minimum wage would be implemented across the board when the LG autonomy commences.
“Over the years, governors have had one excuse and that is the fact that they always claimed that LGs are autonomous so they can’t negotiate minimum wage on behalf of LG workers. But the truth is that LGs were never autonomous during those periods.
“However, during the negotiation of the new minimum wage, the President brought in representatives of ALGON (Association of Local Government of Nigeria) to also negotiate and with the LG autonomy coming into play, that will be settled. The NLC has also given an ultimatum of December for all states as regards the payment of the minimum wage,” he added.
Recall that in May, the Federal Government, represented by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, filed a lawsuit to challenge the governors’ authority to receive and withhold federal allocations meant for Local Government Areas.
The AGF argued that the constitution mandated a democratically elected local government system and did not allow alternative governance structures.
On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court gave a landmark judgment affirming the financial autonomy of the 774 LGs in the country, noting that governors could no longer control funds meant for the councils.
The seven-member Supreme Court panel, led by Justice Garba Lawal, ruled that it was illegal and unconstitutional for governors to manage and withhold LG funds.
The apex court also directed the Accountant-General of the Federation to pay LG allocations directly to their accounts, as it declared the non-remittance of funds by the 36 states unconstitutional.
Also, on August 20, the Federal Government instituted a 10-member inter-ministerial committee to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling on local government autonomy.
The committee members include the Minister of Finance & Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Attorney-General of the Federation & Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi SAN; Minister of Budget & Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu; Accountant-General of the Federation; Oluwatoyin Madein and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso.
Others are the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs Lydia Jafiya, the Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation & Fiscal Commission, Mohammed Shehu, and representatives of state governors and the local governments.
From the look of things, the federal government will start disbursing allocations directly to the accounts of the LGs in the country starting from November end.
.
