N22,500 Minimum Wage Can't Work - FG Tells Governors

The federal government has rejected the N22,500 minimum wage proposed by the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).

In an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday, minister of labour, Chris Ngige, said he has made it known to the governors that the federal government is not in support of their proposal.

CKN News recalls that the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), who is also the Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, had announced on Tuesday that governors have agreed to pay N22,500 to workers after months of deliberation.

Reacting to the announcement on Wednesday, Ngige said the N22,500 is lower than the N24, 000 recommended by the federal government.

His words: “The governors have not even done enough. I told them that this N22,500 was even rejected by the federal government,” the minister said.

To Advertise Here - Call; 08037217013

“The national minimum wage is a national legislation being driven by the federal government of Nigeria in pursuance to item 34 of the exclusive legislative list. But you don’t go and make a law which people will disobey at the initial.

“If you make a law and hoax a figure that is not agreeable, which people don’t have the capacity or ability to pay because the International Labour Organisation (ILO) says in those negotiations, the principle is the ability to pay.”

Meanwhile, the president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, who also featured on the programme, said the governors’ position is unknown to labour laws and contrary to the overall decision of the tripartite committee on the minimum wage.

Wabba asked governors to meet with workers in their state to discuss the N30,000 minimum wage agreed by the committee.

“Let every state governor go back to their states, gather their workers and tell them if they are willing to pay the N30,000 minimum wage or not,” the NLC president said.

Labour is threatening a nationwide strike starting from November 6 if its demand is not met.