Abba Yusuf, governor of Kano, has approved N71,000 as the new minimum wage for civil servants in the state.

In a statement on his X page on Tuesday, the governor said the new minimum wage will be effective in November.

“In line with our commitment to social justice and enhancement of the standard of living for our workers, we have approved the sum of 71,000 naira as the new minimum wage in Kano state,” the governor wrote.

Yusuf said the new pay package would increase the state’s monthly salary obligations by N6 billion at the state level and N7 billion for the LG councils.

“Additionally, following the promotion of 20,737 teachers by our government, a total increment amounting to the sum of over 340 million naira has now been reflected in their respective salaries,” he added.

The governor lauded the state minimum wage implementation committee for its recommendations for standard pay for workers in the state.

The development comes days after Peter Mbah, governor of Enugu, announced a new minimum wage of N80,000 for civil servants in the state.

On October 16, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, announced that the minimum wage for public sector workers in the nation’s commercial capital would be N85,000.

On October 18, Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, approved N85,000 as the minimum wage for civil servants in the state.

On October 25, Umo Eno, the governor of Akwa Ibom, announced N80,000 as the new minimum wage for civil servants.

In July, President Bola Tinubu signed the minimum wage bill into law, increasing workers’ pay package from N30,000 to N70,000.

An Arik Air flight from Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos to Abuja on Saturday evening was disrupted before take-off.

In a video shared by AIT on Sunday, passengers were seen waiting outside the aircraft, having been asked to disembark for a thorough security check.

The passenger who recorded the incident said a “fake passenger was caught and arrested on the flight”.

“It took us about 30 minutes for them to do the check-in and the boy that ran into the plane, a fake passenger, has been caught and arrested, and they said he will not get bail until he is properly investigated. So, they asked us to come out and do a proper check-in,” the passenger said.

However, speaking to TheCable, Adebanji Ola, head of corporate communications at Arik Air, clarified that the individual was not a fake passenger but rather a disruptive traveller.

According to Ola, the passenger attempted to exit the aircraft during boarding but was quickly apprehended and handed over to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) aviation security (AVSEC).

He said following standard procedure, the airline instructed all passengers to leave the aircraft, allowing for a full security check after which the flight departed for Abuja.

“On flight W3 735 from Lagos to Abuja on October 26, 2024, a disruptive passenger was caught while running out of the aircraft at a time boarding was on,” Ola said.

“He was immediately handed over to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) aviation security (AVSEC).

“In line with standard operating procedure, all other passengers on board the aircraft were disembarked, and a thorough security check was carried out in the aircraft.

“A second boarding was then called after the security check and the flight thereafter departed for Abuja.”

Ola said the arrested passenger was taken to the FAAN AVSEC office till the aircraft arrived at its destination.

‘DISRUPTIVE PASSENGER DEBOARDED FOR SAFETY OF OTHER PASSENGERS’

Confirming the incident, Michael Achimugu, director of public affairs and consumer protection at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said the flight, initially scheduled to take off around 6:52pm, was delayed due to the passenger’s behaviour.

Achimugu added that the passenger’s parents were invited after which he was taken away.

“The flight was supposed to take off at 6.20pm. It was supposed to be this time of departure. Now, it was not a fake passenger. It was a passenger on board who, due to suspected, use of hard drugs began to behave crazy,” he said.

“The airline staff had to restrain him for a while before deboarding him for the safety of the other passengers. He was taken by AVSEC to Tango City for holding until the flight eventually took off around 6.52pm.

“There was a 32-minute delay to the flight due to the unruly passenger behaviour.

“His parents were invited to pick him up from there. They came and took him away. The airline departed finally at 18.52 hours with 126 passengers on board.“

Achimugu reiterated that no fake passenger was on board and that the situation was resolved.

The Lagos blue line rail has resumed after a fire outbreak on a section of its track on Saturday.

Gboyega Akosile, spokesperson for Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, said the fire occurred at 4:12pm.

He added that the incident was a minor one and that no casualties were recorded because the train was not operating at the time.

In a statement shortly after the incident, the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) said engineers were working to replace the burnt cables.

“The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) is aware of a spark, inducing fire, at a section of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) near the old NEPA station by Eko Bridge around Apongbon area of Lagos Island,” the statement on X reads.

“As a result, passenger operations of the Blue Line were disrupted. Following the spark, the system isolated the section for investigators and engineers from the Independent Power Plant powering the train to trace the source of the fire.

“The closed-circuit camera along the section promptly alerted emergency staff who triggered the emergency response process.

“Engineers are working profusely to replace the burnt cables, and it is projected that train operation will resume Sunday morning.”

On Sunday, Jubril Gawat, senior special assistant on new media to the Lagos governor, posted a clip of a blue train running through the tracks.

“Earlier this morning on the Blue Line Rail track after the repairs of the minor fire incident yesterday,” he said in a post on X.

“Other Maintenance and troubleshooting still ongoing.”