By Adamu Yusuf
The Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) in Kaduna State has expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in the approval and payment of consequential salary adjustments for core civil servants on Grade Level 07 and above.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the JNC in Kaduna State, Comrade Danjuma Yusuf Musa Muhammed and the Secretary Musa Muhammed and distributed to journalists in Kaduna.
The Joint Negotiating Council held its State Administrative Council meeting at the Secretariat of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) in Kaduna where the council described the delay as deliberate and unnecessary.
The JNC, an umbrella body of eight industrial unions in the federal and state public service, stated that despite exercising patience, it was compelled to go public due to what it described as a lack of sincere commitment by the state government.
The council recalled that a committee set up by the Kaduna State Government in October 2024 to address minimum wage and consequential adjustments completed its assignment and submitted a report in November 2024.
However, implementation has yet to commence.
According to the JNC, the state government later initiated a staff verification exercise in January 2025 to eliminate ghost workers, a process expected to last three months but which extended through December 2025 without completion or implementation of the salary adjustments.
The council further noted that it had written to the state governor on October 2, 2025, and again on January 14, 2026, appealing for approval and implementation of the adjustments.
Although a review committee comprising labour leaders and government officials was subsequently constituted and has submitted its report, no action has been taken.
The JNC has now issued a two-point demand, calling on the state government to approve and implement the committee’s recommendations before the payment of April 2026 salaries.
It warned that failure to comply would lead to a boycott of the 2026 May Day celebrations, a protest march, and a possible full-scale industrial action in the state civil service.
The council also highlighted that most states in the federation have already implemented similar adjustments between 2024 and 2025, describing Kaduna’s delay as regrettable.
It added that the current economic realities, including rising inflation and increased cost of living, have significantly reduced the value of the N72,000 minimum wage approved by the state government.
The JNC further observed that while the new minimum wage has been implemented for workers on Grade Levels 01 to 06, those on Grade Level 07 and above have yet to benefit from corresponding salary adjustments.
