The Nigerian Governors Forum on Wednesday expressed its stance on the ongoing national minimum wage issues, maintaining that it is not against the upward review of the minimum wage for workers.
The Chairman of the Forum, Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, who disclosed this while briefing journalists on the outcome of the governors’ meeting held in Abuja, said that the issue was not just on agreed figure to be paid by the tiers of government, but depended largely on the “ability or resources to take care of that agreed minimum wage.”
The governor pointed out that the forum had made it clear that the governors were not against any upward review of salaries or against the Nigerian Labour Congress to get minimum wage reviewed, saying that the capacity of states to pay remains critical to the final decision on the proposal.
He explained: “But, the problem of state is the capacity to pay what is agreed. As we are talking today, we are struggling with N18,000. Some of the states are paying 35 per cent, some 50 per cent and still some states have salary arrears.
“So, it is not about only reviewing it but how we are going to get the resources to cater for it”, the Forum chairman added.
According to him, the National President of NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, was invited to brief the Forum on states’ performance in the use of London and Paris Club refunds which was disbursed by the Federal Government for the primary purpose of paying workers.
Yari hinted that whereas some states had recorded some progress in line with the conditions on which the disbursements were made, others still owed workers salary arrears.
He said: “So, we invited the National President of NLC to give us details on how some states performed and for some other states that are not up to date, to know where they are.
“So, they have signed Memorandum of Understanding with the NLC at the national level and their representative in states on when they are going to overcome the issue of salary arrears.
“That has been done and it has been taken to the Central Bank Governor to ensure that those states were also paid”, he added.
