Governors of the 36 states of the federation have unanimously rejected the N60,000 minimum wage proposed by the Federal Government, deeming it unrealistic and unsustainable.
This decision was disclosed in a statement on Friday by the Director of Media and Public Affairs of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Hajiya Halimah Salihu Ahmed.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had commenced an indefinite strike on Monday after rejecting the federal government’s N60,000 minimum wage offer.
However, they later announced a one-week suspension of the strike to allow for further negotiations with the government, which had promised to increase the proposed wage.
Despite these developments, the governors maintained their stance against the N60,000 wage.
They argued that implementing such a wage would compel some states to resort to borrowing just to pay workers’ salaries.
“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,” the statement read.
“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.”
The governors further appealed to the labour unions to consider the broader socioeconomic implications of their demands.
“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.”
