Kaduna workers threaten strike over delayed salary adjustments

The National Public Service Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), Kaduna State chapter, has threatened to embark on industrial action over the continued delay in the approval and implementation of consequential salary adjustments for civil servants on Grade Level 07 and above.

This was contained in a communique issued after the State Administrative Council (SAC) meeting of the JNC in Kaduna.

The council expressed dissatisfaction with what it described as “deliberate delay and unnecessary dilly dallying” by the Kaduna State Government in implementing the salary adjustments, despite prolonged engagements and consultations.

According to the JNC, a State Minimum Wage and Consequential Adjustments Committee set up by the government in October 2024 had concluded its assignment and submitted its report in November 2024, but implementation has yet to commence.

The council noted that the government, in January 2025, initiated a staff verification exercise aimed at eliminating ghost workers, a process initially scheduled for three months but which extended till December 2025 without conclusion or corresponding salary adjustments.

It added that multiple correspondences had been sent to the Kaduna State Government, including letters dated October 2, 2025, and January 14, 2026, appealing for approval and implementation of the adjustments.

The JNC stated: “The governor subsequently directed the constitution of a negotiating review committee comprising labour leaders and government officials.

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“The committee has since completed its assignment and submitted its report, yet no positive response has been received.”

The JNC, therefore, called on the Kaduna State Government to urgently approve and implement the recommendations of the review committee before the payment of April salaries.

It warned that failure to comply would result in the boycott of the 2026 May Day celebrations by its members and affiliates.

“In the event of non-implementation by the end of April 2026, the council will organise a protest march and thereafter issue a notice of full strike action across the State Civil Service,” it said.

The council noted that 35 states of the federation had already implemented consequential salary adjustments following the approval of the new minimum wage in 2024, leaving Kaduna workers at a disadvantage.

It also lamented the impact of rising inflation, noting that the N72,000 minimum wage approved by the state government had been eroded by the increasing cost of living.

The JNC further decried a situation where only workers on Grade Levels 01 to 06 benefited from the minimum wage implementation, while senior civil servants remained excluded from corresponding salary increases.