Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State has begun paying a new minimum wage of N85,000 to state employees. This development positions Rivers as one of the few states in Nigeria offering higher-than-average wages to its workforce.
Chukwuma Osunna, the Chairman of the Nigeria Civil Service Union, Rivers State Chapter, shared the news during a press briefing on November 27, 2024. “The Governor has fulfilled his promise. As of today, I can confirm that he has paid the N85,000 new minimum wage to workers, and the workers are happy,” he stated.
Osunna further explained that the payment aligns with detailed calculations reviewed during a joint council meeting involving the Head of Service. According to him, workers had already received the updated salaries in their November paychecks, with other banks expected to follow suit promptly.
The announcement follows Governor Fubara’s earlier commitment to improve workers’ living standards by surpassing the national minimum wage of N70,000 approved by President Bola Tinubu in July. At the time, the governor cited the state’s strong Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) as the foundation for sustaining the wage increase.
