About Local Governments in Nigeria
Nigeria has a total of 774 local government areas that constitute the federation. Each local government is controlled by the local government council consisting of the Chairman, Councilors, and other officials.
Among the three tiers of government which are the Federal, State, and Local Government, the local government is the most neglected. Although the constitution of Nigeria recognizes the local government as an independent tier of the 3-tier federal system in Nigeria, politics has not allowed this to become a reality.
The local government serves many functions to communities within its jurisdiction. These duties and functions range from Taxation, Control of markets, Construction of rural roads, registration of births and deaths, control of outdoor advertising, among others
Local Government Staffs and Salaries
When it comes to matters of salaries and pensions in Local Governments, the local government service commission is charged by law to control all issues of wages and salaries in the Local government. Local governments in Nigeria operate a harmonized salary structure with the State Civil Service.
Therefore, the steps and grades for the state civil service are similar to that of the local government, the only difference is the name.
A level 01 officer in a state civil service will earn the same salary per month as a level 01 officer in the local government. The only difference is that the highest position that can be attained in the local government is a Director, while in the state civil service, the highest is a Permanent Secretary.
Local Government Service Commission Average Salary Scale
Below is the harmonized salary scheme for Local government workers:
Grade Level 1 is the lowest grade in the local government, and civil servants at this grade are expected to be paid a salary between N22,100 and N23,096 monthly. This makes up to an average annual salary of N250,200 NGN to N305,152
Grade Level 2: Workers are expected to earn between N26,176 per month and N29,610 per month, or N297,968 NGN and N371,760 NGN annually.
Grade Level 3: Civil servants are expected to be paid a monthly salary between N32,085 and N33,878. This amounts to N768,864 NGN to N1,154,496 NGN, annually.
Grade Level 4: Workers in level 4 are paid 37,089 monthly and about 560,949k Naira Yearly.
Grade Level 5: Civil servants in this level receive about 39,032k Naira monthly and about 653,084k yearly.
Grade Level 6: 42,057 Naira monthly and 432,098 Naira annually. This is often the entry position for those with an NCE result.
Grade Level 7: The take-home is N66,386 and N93,781, per month. Their annual salary will then be N916,632 to N1,325,372.
Grade Level 8: This is the entry-level for BSc holders in both the Federal, State Civil Service, and local government. The monthly income for Grade Level 8 employees is between N164,434 and N244,644 NGN. Yearly, the workers will earn between N1,973,208 and N2,935,928. When people join the Local Government Service Commission with a Master’s degree qualification, they are often placed at Grade Level 9, and from there, their rank can increase as high as possible.
Grade Level 9: Worker’s salary is between N193,819 and N289,324. They are paid a sum of N2,435,828 and N3,459,888 per annum.
Grade Level 10: NGN 218,180 and N343,220 monthly. Their annual salary should sum up to be between N2,838,160 and N3,918,400 annually.
Grade Level 12: N263,240 and N379,597 monthly, and an annual take-home of about N3,088,830 and N4,255,064.
Grade Level 14: Civil servants in this level earn between N325,518 and N457,952. The annual salary is about N3,932,256 and N5,463,474.
Grade Level 15: Workers in this level belong to the Managerial Cadre. They earn as much as N360,537 and N502,217 monthly, and an annual salary of about N4,316,564 to N6,326,604.
Grade Level 16: This is the second-highest rank in the local government, a worker in this level is paid a monthly salary between N399,701 and N579,043.
Grade Level 17: This is the highest rank that can be attained in the local governments. Chairmen, Directors, and other managerial cadres are paid with this scale.
Note that Salary varies by state
Poor salary payments in Nigerian Local Governments
Although local governments in Nigeria are said to be independent, Local Government Chairmen sometimes bow to pressure from the governors who are only interested in controlling local government allocations using appointments and political nominations as a bait.
Most local government workers in Nigeria have become victims of executive recklessness and have had to resort to farming, and sometimes shady deals to survive. This problem is manifesting in the attitudes of local government employees to their jobs. Most of them hardly go to work, and even when they go, they are not found at their duty posts.
Kwara state has been criticized as one of the worst states to be a local government worker. A comparison of the average monthly salaries for Oyo, Kogi, and Kwara shows that Kwara state has a significantly lower salary. Other states with low salaries include Zamfara, Plateau, and Benue.
ALLEGED SALARY OF LEVEL 17 OFFICER IN KWARA (2019)
Author
Abbey Johnson has a Masters degree as an engineer and has over 3 years of teaching and research experience. He is happiest when on a bike and is also interested in electric energy and computer Science.