Minimum Wage: Southern Governors Make Fresh Proposal

• The southern Nigerian governors have advocated for states to negotiate their minimum wage based on their respective capacities
• The governors, under the aegis of the Southern Governors' Forum, also addressed the issue of fiscal policy and devolution of power
• The development comes after the Nigerian Governors' Forum earlier vowed to continue to negotiate with stakeholders on sustainable minimum wage

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Nigerian governors, under the umbrella of the Southern Governors' Forum, have called on stakeholders to consider granting each state the opportunity to negotiate the minimum wage it can pay workers.

The governors made the call on Thursday, June 27, a day after the Nigerian Governors' Forum promised continuous engagement with stakeholders to consider mutually agreeable solutions over the controversies surrounding the minimum wage.

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Tinubu attends NEC meeting

According to Vanguard, President Bola Tinubu attended the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, usually chaired by vice-president Kashim Shettima, in an unusual manner.

However, neither the president nor the vice president made any comment about the new minimum wage.

The development comes as organised labour raised an alarm that workers in the private and public sectors were becoming restive due to the delay in reaching a conclusion on the new minimum wage.

The union said the situation has pushed the labour leaders to declare industrial action to fast-track the process.

Why governors called for devolution of power

In a communique on Thursday, the southern governors called for room to allow each state to negotiate the new minimum wage with organised labour.

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They added that they discussed the concept of fiscal federation and devolution of powers.

The communique reads in part:

“The Forum discussed the minimum wage issues demanded by labour and unanimously agreed that the minimum wage should be reflective of the cost of living and that each state should be allowed to negotiate its minimum wage."

I pay N40k minimum wage, Governor Uzodimma

Legit.ng earlier reported that Imo state government denied the NLC national secretary's allegation that it has yet to start paying the N30,000 minimum wage.

Declan Emelumba, Governor Hope Uzodimma's commissioner for information, public orientation and strategy, said the government has been paying N30,000 and recently increased it to N40,000 after fuel subsidy removal.

Emelumba wondered what the NLC national secretary would get from dishing out falsehoods to the public, adding that the NLC in the state had debunked the national secretary's claim.

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Proofreading by James Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng