By Williams Amofokhai
Nigerian governors say they cannot pay N60,000 as minimum wage to workers, saying it is not sustainable and cannot fly.
The Alarmee reports that the Labour unions are currently dialoguing with the Federal Government for a minimum wage bill above N60,000, but the governors said the initial proposal of N60,000 to labour union by the national government would not fly.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Director of Media and Public Affairs, Nigeria Governors’ Forum on Friday.
The statement said the Nigeria Governors’ Forum was in agreement that a new minimum wage is due.
The Forum sympathised with labour unions in their push for higher wages, urging all parties to consider the fact that the minimum wage negotiations also involved consequential adjustments across all cadres, including pensioners.
The governors cautioned parties in this important discussion to look beyond just signing a document for the sake of it as 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 collective interest of the country, including workers,” they said.
The governors further appealed that all parties involved, especially the labour unions, consider all the socio-economic 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.