Governors from Nigeria’s 36 states have rejected the Federal Government’s proposed N60,000 minimum wage, deeming it unrealistic and unsustainable.
This was disclosed in a statement on Friday by Hajiya Halimah Salihu Ahmed, Director of Media and Public Affairs for the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).
The governors argued that the proposed wage, if implemented, would compel some states to borrow funds to pay workers’ salaries.
“The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) is in agreement that a new minimum wage is due. The Forum also sympathizes with labor unions in their push for higher wages.
However, the Forum urges all parties to consider that minimum wage negotiations also involve consequential adjustments across all cadres, including pensioners,” the statement read.
The NGF emphasized that any agreement must be sustainable and realistic.
“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.”
The Forum maintained that the N60,000 minimum wage proposal is not feasible. “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.”
The NGF appealed to all parties, especially labor unions, to consider all socioeconomic variables and settle for an agreement that is sustainable, durable, and fair to all other segments of society with legitimate claims to public resources.
This development follows the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) embarking on an indefinite strike after rejecting the Federal Government’s N60,000 offer.
The labor leaders later announced a one-week suspension of the strike to allow for further negotiations with the Federal Government, which had promised to increase the wage from N60,000.
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