New Minimum Wage: How to Compel Governors to Pay N70,000, Top Lawyer Explains

• Barrister Anyakweh Miracle Amadi has explained how the 36 state governors can be compelled to pay the new N70,000 minimum wage
• The Port Harcourt-based lawyer said the state houses of assemblies will have to enact a minimum wage bill to that effect
• During an exclusive chat with Legit.ng, the political analyst, however, said some governors do not need to wait for the state assembly to enact the bill before paying the new minimum wage

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 5 years of experience covering metro and government policy

Port Harcourt, Rivers state - Barrister Anyakweh Miracle Amadi said the state houses of assembly will have to enact a minimum wage bill to compel the governors to pay the newly approved N70,000 minimum wage for workers in their states.

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Amadi said the state governors are complying with the old bill of N30,000, which was enacted a few years ago.

He stated this during an exclusive interview with Legit.ng on Saturday, July 27.

“As a result, it is compelling for every state governor and every private sector to comply, the only variance or variation here is that the state houses of assemblies will now enact a bill for a law, you know that will now make the state governors to comply because what the state governors are complying to is the old one because there is also a law the state House of Assembly enacted that the minimum wage should be 30,000 naira.

“So there has to be new enactment by the various state governors, for instance, states, like Lagos state, have already enshrined that into their law right now.”

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The lawyer, however, added that some governors might not wait for the assembly to enact the bill before they start paying the new minimum wage, while others might wait.

What are consequences of not paying minimum wage?

The political and environmental analyst said strike action from workers and civil society organizations is the main consequence state governors who fail to comply will most likely face.

“It doesn't mean that any state governor who does not pay, will face any legal consequences, the only legal consequences he will face is maybe strike action, and the civil servants or the civil society organizations will sue him in that capacity. Then, the court will make a pronouncement that the national minimum wage should be complied with by such a state government.”

National assembly postpones minimum wage bill transmission

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the National Assembly may send the minimum wage bill to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday, July 29.

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The senior special assistant on National Assembly matters, Senator Abdullahi Gumel, said transmission of the minimum Wage bill was delayed because of the money bills.

Gumel disclosed that the leadership of the national assembly also wanted to personally deliver the bills to President Tinubu.

Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng

Source: Legit.ng