A’Ibom gov okays N80,000 minimum wage payment 

Akwa Ibom State governor, Umo Eno, has directed the Office of the Accountant General of the state to implement the N80,000 minimum wage to about 45,984 verified public servants in the state this January.

The payment will take effect on November 1, 2024, according to the press statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Ekerete Udoh.

Udoh said the development followed the submission of the report by the Committee on the Implementation of the New Minimum Wage/Personnel Verification, headed by the Head of Service, Elder Effiong Essien, on Tuesday.

The governor, while thanking the Committee for the great work, called for an extension of the exercise to the retired workers’ Pension Schemes in the state.

“Let me thank the Committee for taking the time to deliver on this assignment. As I received this report today, my understanding is that before now, we had a staff strength of 55,120. Out of that, 52,177 persons turned out for the verification exercise, so we still have an outstanding number of 2,943 personnel who did not show up, while 6,193 have issues with their verification.

“Having received this report today, I will be signing this off to the Office of the Accountant General, Auditor General, and the Director of Budget to come up with the memo that they are ready to implement.

“For those who have been cleared—about 45,984 of them—we should be ready to pay the minimum wage at the end of this month, effective from November 1, 2024.