Bayelsa Begins Payment of New Minimum Wage, Arrears, Spent N12.6 Billion in 2 Months

Bayelsa State Government says it has started the implementation of the N80,000 new minimum wage for civil servants.

Technical Adviser to the Governor on Accounts, Revenue and Finance, Mr.Timpre Seipulo, who stated this over the weekend during the Transparency Briefing for the months of March and April, disclosed that the state spent N12.6 billion on civil servants salary between March and April, 2025.

Seipulo, who declared that the state still has over N174 billion as the balance in the State coffers as at the end of April, stated that while the salary of the State civil servants for the month of March amounted to N6.1 billion, that of April was N6.5 billion.

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Governor Douye Diri had announced during this year’s May Day Celebrations that his administration was committed to implementing the new minimum wage of N80,000 and the 25 and 35 % salary increment.

He said: “With N266 million used for salary arrears on minimum wage for last year, gratuities stood at N363 million, pension arrears was N193 million, while that of political appointees was N1.7 billion in April.

“The money in the coffers of the State as of April ending this year stood at N174 billion, recurrent payments stood at over N6 billion Naira, while capital expenditure was over N63 billion.

“Some of the capital payments made over the two months include N16 billion for the Yenagoa Phase 2 and 3 roads, N3 Billion for the State independent power plant, over N10 billion for the clearing and sand-filling of the Ekeremor-Toru-Ndoro-Agge Road, N4 billion for the Nembe-Brass Road, as well as the dualization of the Sampou, Odi shore protection and reclamation works on the site of the new Stadium, purchase of security vans among others.”

Earlier, Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Mrs. Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, stressed that the State government would continue with its tradition of rendering accounts to the people.