Minimum wage: States extremely rich, can pay N60,000 – NLC

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Saturday declared that state governors are rich enough to pay the new national minimum wage.

NLC said allocation from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, to states is enough to pay the new minimum wage.

The Head of NLC Public Affairs, Benson Upah, stated this while reacting to comments by state governors that they can’t pay the proposed N60,000 minimum wage proposed by the Federal Government.

In a statement issued on Friday by the Director of Media and Public Affairs for Nigeria Governors Forum, Halimah Ahmed, the governors said the proposed minimum wage is too high and not sustainable.

However, Upah accused state governors of acting in bad faith.

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His statement reads partly: “We do believe the governors have acted in bad faith. It is unheard of for such a statement to be issued to the world in the middle of an ongoing negotiation. It is certainly in bad taste.

“As for the veracity of their claim, nothing can be further from the truth as FAAC allocations have since moved from N700 billion to N1.2 trillion making the governments extremely rich at the expense of the people.

“All that the governors need to do to be able to pay a reasonable national minimum wage (not even the N60,000) is cut down on the high cost of governance, minimise corruption as well as prioritise the welfare of workers.”