Jonathan Nwokpor
The N60,000 minimum salary the federal government had proposed has been rejected by the governors of the 36 states that comprise the Federation.
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Director of Media and Public Affairs, Hajiya Halimah Salihu Ahmed, made this revelation in a statement on Friday.
The governors declared that the N60,000 wage was unsustainable and not achievable.
They contended that if it were implemented, some states would be forced to borrow money to pay their employees’ 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.
“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.
“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,” parts of the statement read.
According to ZINGTIE, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) decided not to accept the N60,000 offer from the Federal Government and went on an indefinite strike.
Later, the labour leaders declared they would end the protest for a week to continue talks with the Federal Government, which had committed to raising wages from N60,000.
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