18 states owe civil servants salary in Nigeria, NLC plans to embark on indefinite strike

The Task Force of the Nigerian Labor Congress has revealed that 18 state governors are owing civil servants in their states salaries and arrears of pensions running into months. The leadership of NLC says workers in these states might be embarking on a nationwide strike on Monday May 25th if their state governors do not pay before the new administration takes over.

According to Punch, the states owing salaries or pensions are; Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Ekiti, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers and Zamfara states.


Abia state was listed as the state that had not paid its civil servants salaries running into nine months. The state is also said to be owing workers of the Hospital Management Board eight months’ salary; Abia State Universal Basic Education Board, six months; Abia State Polytechnic, five months; local government workers, four months; and teachers, three months’ salary arrears.

The report stated that while Enugu State had paid salaries of civil servants up to date, parastatals were owed 12 months’ salaries and pension and gratuity remain unpaid since 2010. Others states owing are Osun State with six months’ salary and pension arrears; Plateau with six months salaries and seven months pension; Benue with five months salaries and four months pension arrears; Kogi with four months of pension and salary arrears; and Oyo which owes three months salaries and between five and 11 months of pension arrears.

Ekiti state had not paid its civil servants salaries in the last three months. Jigawa is owing judiciary workers a month salary arrears in 2015. Ondo state is owing its civil servants one month salary and pension, while Ogun state owes its civil servants one month salary and 52 months of unremitted pension deductions to the Pension Fund Administration. Although Zamfara State has paid workers’ salaries up to date, the salaries of workers who were recruited in 2014 have not been paid. The NLC Task Force also stated that Rivers State owes one month of workers’ salaries and three months of pension while Kano has yet to pay newly employed teachers for three months.