Governors: N60,000 Minimum Wage Not Sustainable

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Friday said that the N60,000 minimum wage proposed by the Federal Government negotiation team was not sustainable and therefore cannot fly.

The NGF said that it agreed that a new minimum wage was due and sympathises with labour unions in their push for higher wages.

In a statement by its acting Director on Media and Public Affairs Hajiya Halimah Salihu Ahmed, the governors however said urged all parties to consider the fact that the minimum wage negotiations also involve consequential adjustments across all cadres, including pensioners.

The NGF cautioned parties in this important discussion to look beyond just signing a document for the sake of it; any agreement to be signed should be sustainable and realistic.

According to NGF, “All things considered, the NGF holds that the N60,000 minimum wage proposal is not sustainable and can not fly. It will simply mean that many states will spend all their FAAC allocations on just paying salaries with nothing left for development purposes.

” In fact, a few states will end up borrowing to pay workers every month. We do not think this will be in the collective interest of the country, including workers.

“We appeal that all parties involved, especially the labour unions, consider all the socioeconomic variables and settle for an agreement that is sustainable, durable, and fair to all other segments of the society who have legitimate claim to public resources.”, the governors said