As Labour, FG Continues Negotiation

Report has indicated that state governors are not considering a new national minimum wage that is higher than ₦70,000.

According to The Nation, the state helmsmen, after a meeting in Abuja reviewed the situation and concluded that any amount above ₦70,000 is not feasible.

They ruled out the ₦100,000 option being dangled by some people.

Sources at the meeting said the governors, who met under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), considered options between ₦60,000 offered to Labour by the Federal Government before the strike, and ₦70,000, which is what the Edo State Government has started paying.

The source said, “After deliberation on the minimum wage, we decided to consider options between N60,000 and N70,000 a month. We could not reach a concrete decision on the wage rate for states.

“Eventually, a committee, to be led by Governor Uzodimma, was mandated to look at all presentations and make recommendations.

“The NGF will soon reconvene to consider the Uzodimma Committee report.

“No state can afford to pay a N100,000 minimum wage and we have ruled out this benchmark.

“Records available to us indicated that some states are still paying N18,000 because they are unable to afford N30,000 (which came into effect in 2019). Only a state has adopted a N70, 000 wage.”

Naija News reports that this development is in line with a previous statement by Chairman of NGF and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq that states will only agree to a minimum wage that is “affordable and sustainable”.