The federal government has rejected the N22,500 minimum wage proposed by the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).
In an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday, Chris Ngige, minister of labour, said he has made it known to the governors that the federal government is not in support of their proposal.
On Tuesday, Abdulaziz Yari, governor of Zamfara and chairman of the NGF, had announced that governors have agreed to pay N22,500 to workers after months of deliberation.
But Ngige said the N22,500 is lower than the N24, 000 recommended by the federal government.
“The governors have not even done enough. I told them that this N22,500 was even rejected by the federal government,” the minister said.
“The national minimum wage is a national legislation being driven by the federal government of Nigeria in pursuance to item 34 of the exclusive legislative list. But you don’t go and make a law which people will disobey at the initial.
“If you make a law and hoax a figure that is not agreeable, which people don’t have the capacity or ability to pay because the International Labour Organisation (ILO) says in those negotiations, the principle is the ability to pay.”
Ayuba Wabba, president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) who also featured on the programme, said the governors’ position is unknown to labour laws and contrary to the overall decision of the tripartite committee on the minimum wage.
He asked governors to meet with workers in their state to discuss the N30,000 minimum wage agreed by the committee.
“Let every state governor go back to their states, gather their workers and tell them if they are willing to pay the N30,000 minimum wage or not,” the NLC president said.
Labour has threatened a nationwide strike from November 6 if its demand is not met.