
Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has increased the minimum wage for the state’s civil servants from N70,000 to N104,000.
The governor announced the new minimum wage on Tuesday night at a meeting with organised labour at the Government House in Owerri, the state capital. This shows an additional N34,000.
Uzodimma also raised the wages for the state’s health workers, pegging the entry-level salary for medical doctors at N508,000, while senior positions in the same cadre will earn up to N1.2 million.
Other health workers, the governor said, would start at N108,000, with top earners receiving as much as N803,000, an upward review from the previous N77,600 to N502,000 range.
For lecturers, the new entry point will be N222,000.
Other civil service positions also received significant increases according to their salary structures.
Uzodimma directed the immediate release of N16 billion to clear outstanding pension and gratuity arrears for senior citizens. The next phase of the payment will start tomorrow.
The governor’s pronouncement met wide jubilation across the state, including the chairman of Aged Pensioners, Dr. J. B. Ugochukwu.
Announcing the pay rise, Uzodimma stated that the new wage reflected his administration’s commitment to a cordial and productive relationship with the state’s workforce and pensioners.
“We have always recognised that no government can succeed without a friendly and cordial relationship with organised labour, which we rightly describe as the engine room of government,” he said.
The governor said his administration had prioritised the welfare and dignity of Imo workers by carrying bureaucrats along in governance.
He cited improved state finances, with Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) rising from below N400 million in 2020 to nearly N4 billion currently, and federal allocation from N7.5 billion to over N13 billion.
He attributed the improved figures to the economic reforms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which he said were yielding tangible benefits.
Uzodimma highlighted a significant drop in Imo State’s debt profile from N280 billion to under N100 billion, alongside massive investments in infrastructure, healthcare, and youth empowerment.
Challenging the workforce to deliver uncommon service with dignity and commitment to justify the new pay, he governor said “Those of us making sacrifices must also have reasons to say we did the will of God.”
Commissioner for Labour, Employment, and Productivity, Prof. Boniface Nwogu, lauded the governor’s gesture, saying it has resolved all pending agitation and struggle by organised labour.
Imo State NLC Chairman Uche Chigaemzu and leaders of sister unions – TUC, NUP, and NMA – thanked the governor for his magnanimity and pledged the continued loyalty and support of workers and pensioners in the state.
The event was attended by the deputy governor, Lady Chinyere Ekomaru, House of Assembly Speaker Chike Olemgbe, the deputy speaker, other lawmakers, commissioners, members of the Expanded Executive Council (Exco), and local government council leadership. (Nation)