Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has lamented that the over-bloated? local government workforce in the state has impeded the implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage structure signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Addressing the 27 local government chairmen in Borno recently, Governor Zulum directed them to return to their localities and engage with relevant stakeholders on a workable solution to the salary problem.

Zulum also warned against retrenchment of staff at the local government level, stating that ?We are not in support of staff retrenchment at the local government level as I direct you to institute a mechanism that will lead to the implementation of the minimum wage.?

?All local government chairpersons should go back to their localities, engage with relevant stakeholders and come up with a workable solution to the salary problem at the local government levels.

?I want to stress that the payment of N72,000 minimum wage has been fully implemented for state civil servants and all primary school teachers in Borno, ? Zulum said.

Also speaking at the Government House in Maiduguri on Saturday night, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Alhaji Modu Mustapha, admitted that the councils were struggling with the complicated payroll.

?Our local governments are already overstretched, and the current staff level has become an obstacle towards implementing the N70,000 employees across 27 councils, 000 minimum wage for council staff, 2024, 000 minimum wage., 000 staff, 000 employees across 44 LGs.

?To put this into perspective, let us take Maiduguri Metropolitan Council for example, its monthly allocation from the Federal Government sometimes stood below N700m. While this may seem substantial at a glance, the local government needs N778m to pay minimum wage,? he said.

He added that the amount would be difficult to pay, given that the councils would also engage in other critical services such as public health, water supply, and security, among others. (The Guardian)

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