The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has requested the State Ministry of Labour and Productivity to issue compliance notices to multinational firms operating within the state that have yet to implement the approved minimum wage.
Lawmakers are also pressing relevant enforcement agencies to ensure adherence to the provisions of the Minimum Wage Act and to impose sanctions on organizations that do not comply.
This resolution was passed following the consideration of a report submitted by the House Committee on Labour and Productivity, urging the state government to compel multinational corporations to comply with the N70,000 national minimum wage.
Limited Compliance by Companies
During the plenary session on 5 March, committee Chairperson Sunday Johnny reported that investigations revealed only a handful of companies in the state have fully complied with the new wage requirements.
The report indicated that despite the Federal Government’s introduction of the N70,000 minimum wage, most of the companies assessed in Akwa Ibom have yet to implement it.
Several organizations cited financial difficulties and the lack of official directives as reasons for their non-compliance.
The committee highlighted that the prevalent non-compliance situation reflects weak enforcement mechanisms and inadequate adherence to statutory labor regulations.
Call for Regulatory Actions
To tackle this issue, the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has mandated regulatory and labor inspection agencies to conduct routine, unannounced audits to assess compliance across both public and private sectors in the state.
Moreover, the Assembly urged the state government to provide clear implementation guidelines and enhance collaboration among government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to ensure uniform enforcement of the minimum wage legislation.
The report resulted from a motion proposed by House Leader Otobong Bob and supported by Deputy Leader Nsidibe Akata. This motion was initially introduced during the assembly's session on 30 September 2025 and was later directed to the Committee on Labour and Productivity for further examination.
Context
In October 2024, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State announced an increase of the minimum wage to N80,000 for state workers, which surpasses the federal government's N70,000 benchmark. Implementation for verified civil servants commenced in January 2025, with retroactive payments backdated to November 2024.
However, over a year after the Federal Government began enforcing the national minimum wage, many multinational companies in Akwa Ibom still have not complied.
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