ALGON President: LGs Can’t Pay N62, 000 Minimum Wage

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Ripples of the minimum wage have continued unabated as the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) has said that  the local government administrations in the country cannot afford to pay workers the N62,000 proposed as the new minimum wage.

The federal government recently increased its offer for the new minimum wage for workers from N60,000 to N62,000.But the labour unions have insisted on N250,000.

Speaking on a programme, monitored on one of the national television stations, ALGON National President, Aminu Muazu-Maifata, said some of the 774 LGAs in the country are still struggling to pay the N30,000 minimum wage approved in 2019.
According to the ALGON President, “With the present allocation from FAAC, no local government council anywhere in Nigeria will be able to pay N62,000.

“The 774 local government councils received slightly above 18 per cent of the total FAAC of the federation, while the federal government received above 52 percent.

“Some councils could not even afford the N30,000 and are still working on the N18,000. Whatever is coming from FAAC presently, 90 per cent goes into salaries and pensions.

“This tells us that without adjustment and an upward review of the percentage of the allocation coming to local councils, it will be extremely difficult or impossible for local government councils to pay N62,000.”

The governors had last week said that they cannot afford to pay any wage above N69, 000 insisting that it cannot fly.
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) said last Friday that the N60,000 minimum wage is not sustainable and therefore cannot fly.

The NGF said that it is in agreement that a new minimum wage is due. The Forum also sympathised with labour unions in their push for higher wages.

However, the NGF acting Director on Media Affairs and Public Affairs, Hajiya Halimah Salihu Ahmed, said that the Forum urges 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, noting that 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