- Obaseki, Sanwo-Olu Implement Minimum Wage
By Abiola Olawale
Following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s endorsement of a N70,000 national minimum wage in Nigeria, it has come to light that numerous states are yet to take any action towards its implementation.
The New Diplomat checks reveal that several states including Plateau, Kebbi, Sokoto, Nasarawa, Bayelsa, Delta, Osun, Ekiti, Zamfara, Benue, Enugu, Taraba, Gombe, Kogi, Enugu, Adamawa, Niger, Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi, Oyo, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Katsina, Kaduna, Cross River, and Yobe have not yet established committees to implement the recently approved N70,000 minimum wage.
However, in Kano, Kwara, Ogun, Borno, Jigawa, Ondo, and Abia, the state governments have set up implementation committees, while Lagos and Edo state governments said they have already begun the payment of N70,000 minimum wage.
It would be recalled that Tinubu, on July 29, 2024, penned N70,000 as the new minimum wage after months of battle with organised labour, which consists of the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
Following the development, it was gathered that 27 states are yet to take any step on the implementation of the new minimum wage.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, who also doubles as the Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, while speaking with the press last week, had said that paying N70,000 would be difficult.
The Governor explained that the lean allocation to his state would make it difficult for him to pay the new wage.
Yahaya said: “I cannot pay the N70,000 minimum wage, and I suspect many other states are in the same predicament.”
Similarly, in the Kogi, the State Commissioner for Finance, Ashiwaju Ashiru Idris, said no date had been fixed for the implementation of the minimum wage by the state.
Meanwhile, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State, who also doubles as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, had set up an 18-member tripartite committee to work out modalities for the new minimum wage payment.
The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, said the committee, comprising representatives from the state government, labour unions, and the Organised Private Sector, had started meeting.
Also, Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano had constituted an advisory committee on the new minimum wage, while the Jigawa State Government set up a 10-man minimum wage committee on Thursday, August 8.
Similarly, the Borno State Government recently inaugurated a 22-member panel, while the Ondo State government said its committee on the new minimum wage was working hard to ensure its implementation.
The Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, also said the state set up a committee a few months ago to advise the government on the matter.
