Shehu Sani argued that following unprecedented increase in Federal allocation to states, govs should be able to pay the proposed minimum wage
By Kehinde Okeowo
Human rights activist and former federal lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani has described as shocking the governors’ opposition to a minimum wage of N60, 000 for civil servants.
TheNiche had earlier reported that the Federal Government at one point during the ongoing negotiation with the organized Labour offer N60, 000 as the new minimum wage.
The offer was, however, swiftly rejected by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), who demanded over N400,000 as the minimum wage workers would be willing to consider.
Thereafter, governors of the 36 states of the federation met and rejected the N60,000 minimum wage earlier proposed by the FG.
In a statement on Friday, the Director Media and Public Affairs of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Hajiya Halimah Salihu Ahmed said the wage was not realistic, arguing that if implemented, it would force some states in the country to be borrowing to pay workers’ salaries.
The statement read in part, “The Nigeria Governors’ Forum is in agreement that a new minimum wage is due. The Forum also sympathises with labour unions in their push for higher wages.”
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Ahmed added: “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.”
Reacting to the position of the governors, Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna central senatorial district in the 8th assembly frowned at the decision and disagreed with them.
Speaking via his X page, he tweeted: “Governors’ opposition to N60,000 as minimum wage in spite of the unprecedented increase in Federal allocation is shocking.”
