The convener of All Progressives Congress (APC) South-East Coalition, Francis Okoye, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should not allow state governors to decide the new minimum wage of workers in the country. Okoye said President Tinubu should insist the amount agreed by the tripartite committee be adopted by all the state governors and compel them to pay....Read The Full Story Here ▶
He said it is wrong for governors to start agitating to decide the new minimum wage for workers.
APC Chieftain stated this during an exclusive chat with Legit.ng on Saturday, June 29.
“The president should insist that that committee set up by the federal government which includes members from the government and labour organised level, that committee should remain and these should be the people to decide on the new minimum wage formula. The President has to insist on it. Any amount agreed by the tripartite committee or the Presidential Committee should be adopted by all the state governors and compel them to pay.”
Okoye said governors who said they couldn’t pay N62,000 are lazy, wicked and selfish.
He urged the state governors to increase their internally generated revenue and stop depending solely on federal allocation.
“I think it is high time the state Governors woke up from their slumber. Most of these Governors are lazy in the sense that they only depend on federal allocation from the central pause for them to start using this to work for the common good of the people. I heard one particular state governor saying that after paying the salaries of workers, he doesn’t have any other money to carry out other projects in the state.
“Such an argument is coming from someone who is lazy, who’s not qualified to be governor of a state. I don’t want to mention the state governor. But what I’m saying, in essence, is that it is high time these governors started finding means and other ways of increasing their internally generated revenue so that they will not be dependent on federal allocation for them to survive as a state.”
Okoye said Governor Godwin Obaseki has shown that state governors can pay N70,000 as minimum wage if they want to upgrade workers’ salaries.
“If a minimum wage of 70,000 or even 100,000 is agreed upon, those states which claim that they cannot be able to pay can pay. The governor of Edo state has shown that they can pay by agreeing that they will pay 70 or 75,000 naira. So why should those who are even Edo claim that they cannot pay, it is wickedness on their part. And I think the labour should not accept it and equally Mr. President.”
Minimum wage: FG, Labour to decide
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the federal government’s negotiating team and leaders of the national assembly reportedly adopted N70,000 as the new national minimum wage.
A member of the tripartite committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tinubu is expected to forward N62,000 but the lawmaker will increase it to N70,000.
The source added that the approach was adopted since Governor Godwin Obaseki has started paying the N70,000 minimum wage in Edo state.
