We cannot afford payment of N60,000 minimum wage, say Nigerian Governors
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has declared that the proposed N60,000 is not sustainable and cannot fly, having considered all things surrounding the new minimum wage, which they admitted that it is due
Penpushing reports that Director on Media and Public Affairs of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Halima Ahmed, made the declaration in a statement on Friday in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and sympathised with the labour unions in their push for higher wages.
The statement, however, urged all parties to consider the fact that the minimum wage negotiations also involved consequential adjustments across all cadres, including pensioners, stressing cautions on need to look beyond just signing a document for the sake of it.
‘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’, the statement reads.
“It will simply mean that many states will spend all their Federal Account Allocation Committee (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 said.
Penpushing further reports that the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) appealed to all parties involved, especially the labour unions, to consider all the socio-economic variables, and need to settle for an agreement that is sustainable, durable, and fair to all other segments of the society, who have legitimate claim to public resources.
Meanwhile, it is recalled that while the Nigeria Union of Labour(NLC) and Trade Union Congress(TUC) are demanding N494,000 as minimum wage, the government, through a tripartite committee, is proposing N60,000.
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