A claim that the Nigerian government has opened an application portal for the payment of minimum wage has been circulating on WhatsApp.
During Nigeria’s 63rd independence celebration on the 1st of October 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had announced an additional increment of N25,000 to the minimum wage of government workers in the country during his Independence Day address.
The ICIR reported that the increment was going to be effected for the next six months after the announcement was made. The president also approved an additional N10,000 for employees making it N35,000 to avert the planned strike by labour unions pending when the new minimum wage would be implemented.
The claim was contained in a broadcast message sent to various contacts in a WhatsApp group. The message noted that the minimum wage was only for individuals and asked Nigerians to check if they are eligible by clicking on a web link.
The WhatsApp post read thus:
2024 Minimum Wage Application Portal is now Open
Citizens working under the public sector can now aaply for the minimum wage of 200,000 monthly commencing from April 2024
*Minimum wage to be increased from the previous amount(30,000) up to (200,000)
The shortlist for applicants has started procession.
strictly for civil servants and all public sectors
Check Eligibility and Apply here
https://wageform-apply.onlineagency.site/
CLAIM
Nigeria’s minimum wage application portal is now open.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE!
A careful look at the website link shows that the domain name has features synonymous with most phishing websites which The FactCheckHub had reported in the past.
Whenever users click the web link, it neither direct them to the official web page of the State House or the Federal Civil Service.
Rather, it asks you to fill in personal details like your name and bank details as seen below. Thereafter, you will be asked to share to groups and your phone contacts till a ‘green bar is full.’ This is a typical modus operandi of phishing websites and online scams, which The FactCheckHub had earlier reported here.
A careful look at the message on the post shows that there were typographical errors which is often found in phishing scams and websites as the messages are often constructed in a hurry.
Further checks revealed that the Nigerian government had paid the N35,000 additional wage award directly to public civil servants’ accounts for the month of September 2023 via the government’s integrated payroll system (IPPIS). Thus, civil servants were not requested to register on any website to benefit from the additional wage award.
Also, media reports in December 2023 indicated that the government had paused the payment, as the nation’s trade union called on the federal government to resume the payment of N35,000 wage award.
To avoid falling victim to click baits by scammers or phishing websites, learn how to identify phishing scams and websites here.
You may also wish to learn how to verify viral WhatsApp messages too here.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Nigeria’s minimum wage application portal is now open is FALSE; findings revealed that the web link is a phishing scam.
Seasoned fact-checker and researcher Fatimah Quadri has written numerous fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy pieces for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or [email protected].
