The Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, has approved a Christmas bonus of N100,000 for each civil servant in the state.
The announcement was made by the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Joe Johnson, on Tuesday.
According to Johnson, the approval was issued by Governor Fubara with “immediate implementation to enable the civil servants to have a wonderful yuletide celebration.”
The Christmas bonus will be paid to the thousands of civil servants working in the different ministries, departments, and agencies of the state.
This marks the first time in a long time that the state’s civil servants received Christmas bonuses, and is the highest ever.
The one hundred thousand naira bonus by Governor Fubara is more than three times the minimum wage in the country.
The state governor has continued to reiterate that he wants to advance the interests of the state’s low-income earners and enhance the welfare of civil servants in Rivers State.
Last week, when the N800 billion budget proposal for 2024 was presented to the Rivers State House of Assembly, chaired by Edison Ehie, Governor Fubara vowed to fast-track the hiring process of new employees to close the shortage of manpower in the civil service.
It should be noted that the incumbent governor was the state’s immediate past Accountant General of the state, and the first civil servant to lead Rivers State as the governor.
Earlier this week, the governors of Oyo and Lagos states, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Seyi Makinde, approved December salary increments and bonuses to civil workers towards the yuletide.