The money planned for paying workers, including salaries and allowances, has gone up from N2.036tn spent in 2024 to N3.87tn in the approved 2025 budget.

Even though the 36 states set aside N2.8tn for salaries, they only paid N2.036tn in 2024. This means there was a reduction of N764bn, as seen in the budget report.

Reason for the Salary Increase

Data from the 2025 approved budget of all 36 states show that the increase is because of the newly approved N70,000 minimum wage and more political appointments. This has led to an increase of almost 90.23%.

The budget details can also be found on Open States, a platform supported by BudgIT, which keeps government budget records.

Some States Cannot Pay Salaries Without Federal Support

The budget report also shows that at least 27 states will not be able to pay their workers’ salaries this year without getting money from the central government.

In July 2024, President Bola Tinubu approved a big increase in the minimum wage for Nigerian workers, raising it from N30,000 to N70,000.

This happened after many months of discussions between the government and labour unions.

Implementation of the New Minimum Wage

However, this salary increase has not been fully implemented across all states, as some are yet to adopt the new wage system.

Because of this delay, the Nigerian Labour Congress has warned state governments to start paying the new minimum wage by December 1, 2024.

Even with this warning, some states have not yet started paying the new salary, making workers wait longer for financial relief.

States with Different Levels of Salary Increase

A closer look at the budget report shows that salary costs vary across states. About 20 states increased their salary spending by more than 50%, while 16 states had smaller increases below 50%.

Some states saw very high increases. Abia, Cross Rivers, Ekiti, Niger, Rivers, and Taraba states had the highest jump, exceeding 100% of their 2024 budget for salaries. Meanwhile, Gombe, Osun, and Ondo had the lowest increase, staying below 15%.

Breakdown of Salary Changes in Some States

A breakdown of salary changes in some states shows that:

Abia increased its budget from N33.045bn to N77.34bn, a 134% rise.
Adamawa’s salary budget went up from N48.61bn to N74.23bn, marking a 52.7% increase.
Akwa Ibom approved a rise from N91.74bn to N126.69bn, growing by 38.1%.
Anambra, under Governor Charles Soludo, increased its salary budget from N34.001bn to N63.41bn, which is an 86.45% rise.
Bauchi’s budget went from N42.29bn to N70.41bn, an increase of about 66.5%.
Bayelsa saw a big jump in spending, from N60.18bn to N114.21bn, a rise of over 89%.
Cross River increased its personnel budget from N35.02bn to N106.12bn, a sharp 202% rise, one of the highest among all states.
Delta also raised its spending from N139.999bn to N185bn, an increase of 32.5%.

More States with Salary Increases

Ebonyi state’s budget went from N23.076bn to N36.66bn, a 58.9% increase.
Edo raised its spending from N74.58bn to N101.29bn, a 35.8% jump.
Ekiti nearly doubled its budget, going from N30.69bn to N62.51bn.
Enugu’s budget rose from N47.988bn to N70.954bn, increasing by 48%.
Gombe had a rare decrease in spending, reducing from N40.52bn to N40.28bn, a small drop of 0.6%.
Imo’s salary budget went up from N41.92bn to N67.4bn, marking a 60.9% increase.
Jigawa increased from N51.445bn to N90.73bn, a 76.4% rise.
Kaduna also saw an increase, from N68.010bn to N83.94bn, which is 23.4% higher.
Kano had one of the biggest increases, from N89.97bn to N150.996bn, a 67.8% jump.
Katsina’s budget increased from N29.69bn to N58.62bn, a 97.6% rise.
Kogi also increased from N64.798bn to N109.96bn, growing by 69.8%.
Kwara raised its budget from N51.045bn to N69.152bn, an increase of 35.5%.
Lagos had the highest rise, increasing from N225.114bn to N401.12bn.

Further Salary Budget Increases

Nasarawa increased from N48.704bn to N80.456bn, a 65.2% rise.
Niger’s budget went from N25.36bn to N104.301bn, a huge 311.5% jump.
Ondo’s salary budget went up from N75.96bn to N139.726bn, increasing by 83.9%.
Osun’s spending also grew, from N55.571bn to N102.89bn, an 85.1% rise.
Oyo had a big increase in spending, rising from N116.207bn to N214.116bn, an 84.3% jump.
Plateau raised its budget from N38.963bn to N67.144bn, a 72.5% increase.
Rivers, under Governor Siminalayi Fubara, increased spending from N167.05bn to N343.196bn, a massive 105.6% rise.
Sokoto’s budget increased from N55.32bn to N64.711bn, a 17% jump.
Taraba raised its budget from N36.319bn to N95.23bn, a 162% rise.
Yobe increased spending from N47.95bn to N64.12bn, growing by 34%.
Zamfara saw a moderate increase in salary spending, rising from N34.21bn to N58.38bn, a 70.7% growth.

N70,000 Minimum Wage: States’ Salaries Rise by 90% to N3.8tn