State
governors under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors Forum have said they are
struggling to pay the current minimum wage of N18,000.
Although
they said they were not against the upward review of the minimum wage, they
said the ability of states to pay must be considered.
Chairman
of the Forum, who is also the Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari,
said this while briefing journalists after the meeting of the governors held in
Abuja on Wednesday night.
The
National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr Ayuba Wabba, was also at
the meeting.
Yari
said, “The problem of the states 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.”
Yari
added that Wabba was invited to brief the forum on states performance in the
use of London and Paris Club refunds.
The
Federal Government disbursed the fund to states, urging them to use a larger
percentage of the money to pay workers’ salaries.
He
said, “So, we invited the National President of NLC to give us details on how
some states performed. So they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
the NLC at the national level and their representatives 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 are also paid.”
Some
of the governors present at the meeting were the newly sworn-in Governor of
Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi; and his counterparts from Kebbi, Kaduna, Lagos,
Benue, Niger, Adamawa, Plateau, and Kogi states.
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