The 36 state governors who make up the Nigeria Governors’ Forum have said that the N60,000 minimum wage proposal by the Federal Government is not sustainable and cannot fly.
A statement by the Acting Director, Media Affairs and Public Relations of the Forum, Mrs Halima Ahmed, noted that if allowed to fly, many states will use all their monthly allocations from the federation account to pay workers’ salaries.
The governors appealed to members of the tripartite committee to agree on a minimum wage that would be fair and sustainable.
“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 can not 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 country’s collective interest, 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 a legitimate claim to public resources,” the statement read.
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Recall that the organised labour had rejected the N60,000 proposal and went on a nationwide strike on Monday.
The action was however suspended on Tuesday after the Federal Government promised to increase the minimum wage to an amount bigger than N60,000 as they resume negotiations.
Labour Vows To Reject Meagre Addition To N60,000
Following the Federal Government’s acceptance to add something to the N60,000 which was rejected by the organised labour, the workers vowed not to accept any lean addition by the government.
The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, stated this on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, hours after the Organised Labour comprising the TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) suspended its industrial action which started at 12:01 am on Monday.
“At the meeting on Friday, they (the tripartite committee) said they would not add anything more to the ₦60,000 but in the meeting of yesterday (Monday), Mr President was able to commit to doing what is more than ₦60,000,” Osifo said.
When asked whether Labour would accept a few thousand naira additions to the last offer of the tripartite committee, the TUC boss said, “No, we also told them that it’s not that we’d get to the table and you start adding ₦1, ₦2, ₦3,000 as you were doing and we got some good guarantees here and there that they would do something good.”
The organised labour had earlier proposed ₦494,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the country, but Osifo said labour is not fixated on that amount.
He, however, insisted that the tripartite committee must show seriousness and offer workers something economically realistic in tandem with current inflationary pressures.
Tripartite committee locked in meeting
The tripartite committee meeting for a new national minimum wage has been meeting to agree on a new wage since the strike suspension.
The meeting, which is the fifth since the suspension of the industrial action by organised labour, is holding behind closed doors at the Nicon Luxury Hotel in Abuja.
Some prominent members of the committee are in attendance including the Director General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF); the Minister of Labour and Employment (State) Nkiruka Onyejeocha, the Governor of Imo State Hope Uzodimma; a representative of the Salaries, Income and Wages Commission; the Minister of Finance Wale Edun as well as the Minister of Budget and National Planning Atiku Bagudu.
When the meeting was held on Thursday, committee members gave assurances that a figure may be announced on Friday.
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