By Abiola Olawale
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, has criticized the 36 Governors for proposing a decentralized minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
The NLC boss speaking at the sidelines of the 112th International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, criticized the governors for their perceived inconsistency regarding the welfare of Nigerian workers.
Ajaero questioned why governors who receive uniform salaries despite their varying contributions to the Federal Government’s revenue, are seeking authorization to implement differing minimum wages.
He also challenged the governors to subject themselves to a decentralised salary from the Federal Government.
He said: “The governors from states where you even get nothing are still earning the same salary as governors that you’re getting billions from. So, how hypocritical those state governors could be?”
The Labour leader said he does not know what the governors mean by decentralisation of wages.
He continued: “Is it the source of payment? Is it coming from their purse? What are they saying, because minimum wage is like having a uniform law in the country. Are they now saying give us the right to run a kind of confederate system of government or permission to run a unitary system of government so that whatever we generate we spend it?”
He explained that if everything goes into a federation account and the governors also draw allocation from the federation account, the Federal Government has the exclusive right to determine what should be the minimum wage in the country.
Ajaero said it could be detrimental to the country if every employer of labour is allowed to set the minimum wage.
The New Diplomat reports that this comes days after the Governors of the 36 states of the Nigerian federation have declined the proposal of an N60,000 minimum wage put forward by the Federal Government.
The governors expressed concerns regarding the sustainability of an N60,000 minimum wage, citing potential negative impacts on the country’s overall development.
The governors stated that the implementation of an N60,000 minimum wage would significantly curtail the ability of state governments to allocate funds towards infrastructural development, as the majority of their budget would be directed towards meeting the increased salary obligations of their workforce.
