The Rivers State Chapter of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called for increase in the minimum wage paid to civil servants in the state.

Samuel Ogan, chairman of the union in Rivers State, asked for a 250% increase, a move that would see the state’s minimum wage jump from the current N80,000 to N200,000 monthly.

He made the call on Monday January 19, 2026 during a visit by a civil society group, the Defence for Human Rights and Democracy, to the TUC Centre in Port Harcourt.

Ogan said the need for increase is evident given the harsh economic realities in the country, and the disparity in the take-home pay of civil servants and private sector workers.

He said, “If you walk into some of these offices that you call private sector, they don’t earn, get revenue as much as the states. But if you go there, you have cleaners earning a hundred thousand. Some, two hundred thousand.

The TUC leader argued that, “The states can do better. And together with us, we can do better. There’s money in Rivers State and we’ll help the government channel this money rightly, for the residents and the citizens of Rivers State.”

Ogan, who leads a faction of the TUC in Rivers State, further urged Siminalayi Fubara, the state governor, to “work” with his group, adding that “immediately after the election of this council that held on 30th of October, the national (executive) has formally written to the governor of Rivers State.

“All we require is for the governor to respond to that letter. And once he does that response, we shouldn’t be where we are.

“Yes, we understand that the governor is a civil servant and it’s only necessary that he would have some sympathy for his colleagues on the other side. But he should be aware that trade union is not politics and when we are doing trade unionism, we don’t involve politics into it,” he said.

A large percentage of civil servants in the state describe Fubara as a “civil servant-friendly governor,” applauding his introduction of a yearly N100,000 Christmas bonus for them. (BusinessDay; but headline rejigged)

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