Minimum Wage: Sacrifice Your Huge Salaries, Allowances To Pay Workers, NLC Replies Govs

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has reacted to statement made by Nigerian governors on their inability to pay the new national minimum wage of N30,000.

The governors in a statement by its chairman, the Governor of Zamfara, Abdul’aziz Yari, said the new minimum wage proposal to President Muhammadu Buhari is not feasible.

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According to him, the proposed figure could only be paid if labour would agree to downsize its workforce across the country “or federal government itself accedes to the review of the national revenue allocation formula.”

“Like Lagos that is paying about N7 billion as salaries now, if you say it should start paying N30, 000, the cost of salary will be N13 billion. From our calculation, it is only Lagos State that will be able to pay 30,000.

“As Nigerians, this is our country, there is no other country we have and we should be fair to this country,” the governor said.

In its reaction, the NLC in a statement personally signed by its president, Ayuba Wabba, on Thursday advised state governors to sacrifice their huge salaries and allowances to pay the proposed new minimum wage.

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The statement read, “We propose that since a few political office holders are bent on enslaving Nigerian workers with peanuts mislabeled as salaries, we urge such elected public officials to subject their humongous salaries and allowances, reputed to be among the highest in the world, pro rata with the minimum wage they want to force down the throats of Nigerian workers.

“We, therefore, urge each state governor to go to their respective states and inform workers and their families their individual position on the new national minimum wage of N30,000.

“The 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) recognises individual states in the Collective Bargaining Process NOT Nigeria Governors Forum. The states, like the other social partners, have already defended their positions during negotiations at the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Negotiation Committee vis-à-vis counter proposals.”

He further said that any politician or political party that refuses to pay the new national minimum wage of N30,000 will be voted out of office.

“We hereby reiterate our directive to Nigerian workers to vote out any politician or political party that refuses to pay the new national minimum wage of N30,000.

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“We shall continue to consolidate our efforts to strengthen already existing platforms and structures to give teeth to our resolve to vote out anti-labour governors and politicians in the forthcoming 2019 general election.

“The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Organised Labour urge workers to remain steadfast and firm on our rights to decent wages and improved living conditions. To the oppressors, we have only one answer for you We will never sleep on our rights!” he said.

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