Why governors flout minimum wage law – NLC

Chris Onyeka, the assistant general secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), claims that many state governors disobey the Minimum Wage Act because they do not respect the law’s authority.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday on the minimum wage law and its application in Abuja, Onyeka made this claim.

He noted that although employees are waiting impatiently for a new minimum wage to become law, 15 states have not yet implemented the N30,000 wage established in 2019.

In his view, governments continue to refuse to pay their employees the minimum wage despite the extra money they stand to gain from the removal of fuel subsidies and the ensuing suffering caused by the increase in petrol prices.

In violation of the 2019 Act, Onyeka listed the following states as not having implemented the minimum wage: Abia, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Gombe, Niger, Borno, Sokoto, Anambra, Imo, Benue, Taraba, and Zamfara.

“A state governor who does not believe in the sanctity of the laws will have a high proclivity to disobeying them.

“If you examine the history of some of these governors and their handlers, you will find a preponderance of those who came to power by breaking the laws.

“Is it now that they will obey the national minimum wage act?” he asked.

According to the union leader, many governors are reluctant to provide civil servants their salary because they believe they own the state’s resources and are thus unwilling to share the money with the people who generate it.

According to Onyeka, there is a well-known lack of fiscal discipline in several states, and some governors have appropriated public funds for their own personal gain out of avarice.

He reaffirmed the necessity of stopping waste and lowering the cost of government at all levels.

He listed the steps as reducing the number of official, operational, and logistical vehicles in addition to reducing the number of political appointees to cut expenses.

According to Onyeka, the pay and benefits obtained by appointed and elected officials in the three branches of government need to match those of civil servants.

According to him, procurement procedures should be streamlined by all tiers of government to guarantee accountability, integrity, fiscal restraint, and openness.

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