The 36 State Governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) on Friday declared that the N60,000 minimum wage earlier proposed by the Federal Government for workers is not sustainable and cannot fly.
The NGF, in a statement issued by its Director of Media and Public Affairs, Halimah Ahmed, said it was in agreement that a new minimum wage is due, while sympathising with labour unions in their push for higher wages.
However, the governors urged all parties to consider the fact that the minimum wage negotiations also involved consequential adjustments across all cadres, including pensioners.
The NGF cautioned parties in this important discussion to look beyond just signing a document for the sake of it, saying any agreement to be signed should be sustainable and realistic.
According to the statement, “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,” the governors said.
The governors 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.
The Federal Government had proposed N60,000 as new minimum wage which the labour unions rejected and went on strike for two days.
The strike was called off after the Federal Government said they would pay above N60,000 as new minimum wage
