BREAKING: Rethink ₦60,000 Minimum Wage Proposal, It’s Unsustainable – State Govs Tell FG

• Rethink ₦60,000 Minimum Wage Proposal, It’s Unsustainable, State Governors Tell FG.

• NLC and TUC initiated an indefinite strike but agreed to a one-week relaxation for further negotiations.

• Governors argue that implementing the ₦60,000 minimum wage would force some states to borrow funds to pay salaries.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the governors of Nigeria’s 36 states have declared that the proposed ₦60,000 minimum wage by the Federal Government is unsustainable.

This statement follows the indefinite strike action initiated by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Monday, rejecting the ₦60,000 offer.

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However, on Tuesday, organized labour agreed to relax the strike action for one week to allow further negotiations with the federal government, which had promised to reconsider the wage increase.

In a statement issued on Friday by the Director of Media and Public Affairs of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Hajiya Halimah Salihu Ahmed, the governors emphasized that the ₦60,000 minimum wage is unrealistic. They argued that implementing it would force some states to borrow funds to pay workers’ salaries.

The statement reads, “The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) is in agreement that a new minimum wage is due. The Forum also sympathises with labour unions in their push for higher wages.

“However, 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 cautions 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.

“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.

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“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.”

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