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| - An X user, @xagreat, has claimed that no civil servant in Nigeria has received the new national minimum wage since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government made the promise in May 2024.
Recall that the Nigerian minister of State Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, had on behalf of the federal government disclosed this on May 1, 2024 while addressing Nigerian workers at the May Day celebration in Abuja.
The X post read:
“The New Minimum Wage Will Take Effect From Today, May 1, 2024 — Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
We are in February 2025, and no single civil servant has received the new minimum wage/consequential adjustment. Tinubu over promises and under delivers.“
READ: How true is the claim that every employer must pay the new national minimum wage?
The post has generated over 300,000 views alongside over 1,800 reposts and more than 4,900 likes as of February 24, 2025.
CLAIM
No civil servant in Nigeria has received the new national minimum wage.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
Since Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023, Nigeria has faced significant economic challenges, including rising inflation and a high cost of living. These issues were exacerbated by economic reforms such as the removal of fuel subsidy and currency devaluation.
In response to widespread protests and industrial actions led by labour unions, the government engaged in negotiations to address workers’ demands for better wages. By July 2024, an agreement was reached to increase the national minimum wage to ₦70,000, with a provision for review every three years. This was aimed at alleviating economic hardship and restoring stability in the economy.
In September 2024, PUNCH reported that the Nigerian government had begun paying the new national minimum wage and its consequential adjustments to public servants across all levels of the federal civil service.
The report stated that a warrant for the month’s salary, signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, and addressed to the Budget Office, directed the commencement of the new payment.
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A breakdown of the new salary structure showed that officers from level one to level seven now earn between ₦930,000 and ₦1,277,667 per annum.
The report quoted sources, including the Director of Press at the Office of the Accountant-General, organized labour groups (Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress), and several civil servants, confirming the implementation of the new wage.
Ramat Soliu, a staff member of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), confirmed to The FactCheckHub that workers in her agency had started receiving the new minimum wage but expressed disappointment over the low consequential adjustment.
Olumide Dada, an employee of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) – an agency under the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Creative Economy, and Tourism, also confirmed that workers in the agency have started receiving the new minimum wage.
“We received the minimum wage consequential adjustment, which amounted to a ₦40,000 flat rate from our September 2024 salary. The arrears for August were paid with our December salary. The only arrears we are still expecting from the federal government are the wage awards for April, May, June, and July 2024,” he said.
However, Agbaje Francis, a civil servant with the Federal Ministry of Education, told The FactCheckHub that he alongside some of his colleagues are yet to receive the new minimum wage due to a system error.
“We are yet to be paid the minimum wage. The reason given for the non-payment was a system error,” he said.
Further checks show that the Nigerian government made selective payments to some federal workers in September 2024, a Vanguard report stated. But the federal government later in December 2024 reassured workers that many Nigerian states will implement the new national minimum wage from January 2025.
A PUNCH editorial confirmed that 22 Nigerian states are already implementing the new minimum wage for workers in their respective state civil services as of December 2024. Also, a Dataphyte infographic published on January 30, 2025 corroborated the PUNCH report.
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However, though the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, had approved the payment of N70,000 new national minimum wage for all workers in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) since November 2024, teachers and local government workers in the nation’s capital city had embarked on industrial actions first in December 2024 and also in February 2025 to demand payment of the new wage. The second strike was suspended last Friday, Daily Trust reported.
THE VERDICT
The claim that no civil servant in Nigeria has received the new national minimum wage is FALSE. Multiple federal workers confirmed to The FactCheckHub that they have been receiving the new minimum wage since September 2024; some media reports also confirmed that federal workers have started receiving the minimum wage since last year while some state governments are yet to implement the new minimum wage scheme.
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