N60,000 minimum wage not sustainable – NGF

The Nigerian Governors Forum has said the proposed N60,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers is unsustainable.

A Statement by the NGF’s Director of Media and Public Affairs, Halimah Salihu Ahmed, on Friday stated that though the Forum agrees that a new minimum wage is due, it urges all parties to consider the fact that the minimum wage negotiations also involve consequential adjustments across all cadres, including pensioners. 

The Forum said it sympathises with labour unions in their push for higher wages but cautions parties in the discussion to look beyond just signing a document for the sake of it as any agreement to be signed should be sustainable and realistic.

According to the NGF, the N60,000 minimum wage proposal is unsustainable and can not fly.

The Forum added that endorsing the proposed wage would mean that many states will spend all their FAAC allocations on paying salaries only with nothing left for development purposes. According to the governors, 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. 

“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, ” the statement read.

Recall WESTERN POST reported that both the NLC and TUC said the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 can no longer cater to the well-being of an average Nigerian worker. Labour had handed the Federal Government a May 31 deadline for the new minimum wage.

On May 31, the workers’ organs in the country declared a nationwide strike beginning on Monday, June 3, 2024, over the government committee’s inability to agree on a new minimum wage and reversal of the electricity tariff hike.

During the failed talks with the government, Labour rejected three government offers, the latest being N60,000. The TUC and the NLC subsequently pulled out of negotiations, insisting on ₦494,000 as the new minimum wage.

Labour leaders met with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, George Akume, and other government officials on Monday and resolved that President Bola Tinubu was committed to a new minimum wage higher than N60,000, thus ending the industrial action

They resolved that the Tripartite Committee would meet for one week to arrive at an agreeable National Minimum Wage.