Governors from Nigeria’s 36 states have bluntly rejected the Federal Government’s proposal for a N60,000 minimum wage, deeming it unrealistic and unsustainable.
The Director of Media and Public Affairs of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Hajiya Halimah Salihu Ahmed, made this known in a statement on Friday.
Earlier, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had launched an indefinite strike on Monday, protesting the federal government’s N60,000 minimum wage offer.
The strike was temporarily relaxed for one week to allow further negotiations after the federal government promised to raise the wage from N60,000.
However, the governors argued that implementing the N60,000 minimum wage would force some states to borrow just to pay workers’ salaries.
The statement from the NGF reads, in part, “The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) is in agreement that a new minimum wage is due. The Forum also sympathises with labour unions in their push for higher wages.
“However, the Forum urges all parties to consider the fact that the minimum wage negotiations also involve consequential adjustments across all cadres, including pensioners.
“The NGF cautions parties in this important discussion to look beyond just signing a document for the sake of it; any agreement to be signed should be sustainable and realistic.
“All things considered, the NGF holds that the N60,000 minimum wage proposal is not sustainable and cannot fly. It will simply mean that many states will spend all their FAAC allocations on just paying salaries with nothing left for development purposes.
“In fact, a few states will end up borrowing to pay workers every month. We do not think this will be in the collective interest of the country, including workers.
“We appeal that all parties involved, especially the labour unions, consider all the socioeconomic variables and settle for an agreement that is sustainable, durable, and fair to all other segments of the society who have legitimate claim to public resources.”
Any Governor that cannot pay 75k as minimum wage is a dubious Person and should resign office immediately.
Obasieke of Edo state that’s paying 70k is he printing money elsewhere?