The Bauchi State Government has approved a new remuneration structure for traditional rulers, increasing their pay by more than 300 per cent and integrating their offices into the state’s civil service framework.

The decision was announced on Monday by the Chief Economic Adviser, Yahuza Adamu Ningi, after the State Executive Council meeting chaired by Governor Bala Mohammed at the Executive Council Chambers, Government House, Bauchi.

Ningi, who represented the Head of Civil Service, Mohammed Sani Umar, said the move formalises and sustains the administration’s earlier efforts to strengthen traditional institutions for improved governance and to cover previously ungoverned areas.

He said traditional rulers in the state had for years received only honorariums paid through local governments without a standardised structure.

He said the new arrangement places their remuneration under the state civil service rules.

“This government put them in a structure where everything, from the hamlet up to the emirate, is taken care of by the state government,” he said.

Ningi explained that the council directed that all traditional institutions be properly enumerated, adding that the government had already provided vehicles and housing for many traditional rulers as part of the reforms.

He said the new pay structure categorises rulers into first-class, second-class and third-class emirs, as well as district heads, with each category assigned specific remuneration.

Although he did not disclose exact figures, Ningi said the review represents “far more than 300 per cent” of what many traditional rulers previously earned.

He noted that some traditional rulers had previously earned virtually nothing.

The pay review follows the government’s creation of new emirates, district heads and village heads aimed at preserving history and improving administrative reach.

Ningi said the reforms were designed to strengthen traditional institutions “for ease of governance, to cover ungoverned spaces and also to upgrade and uphold history.” (Daily Trust)