Governors of the 36 states of Nigeria have grumbled over the N18,000 minimum wage for the workers, which they said was imposed on them at the time the nation was enjoying good financial portfolio.
The governors were unanimous at the end of a meeting last night on the platform of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), that they could no longer bear the N18,000 minimum wage that was imposed on them when oil sold for $126 as against its present cost of $41. The meeting was held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the meeting, the NGF chairman and governor of Zamfara state, Abdulaziz Yari said that the governors would soon meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to fashion a way out of the quagmire.
“The situation is no longer the same when we were asked to pay N18,000 minimum wage, when oil price was $126 (per barrel) and continued paying N18,000 minimum wage when the oil is $41 and the source of government expenditure is from oil, and we have not seen prospects in the oil industry in the near future.
“We resolved that we must look at ways to enhance revenue generation and at the same time look at ways to cut our overhead costs, especially the political office holders’ salaries and other overhead expenses.
“We will diversify our economy in the area of agriculture and mining. But at the same time, we should understand our situation where some of us (states) today are taking N100 million take home (monthly allocation) and having salaries in particular of over N2 billion to pay.
“We therefore agreed here to take this suggestion to NEC (National Economic Council) in our meeting tomorrow (Thursday) so that we can be able to find ways to tackle this problem.
“And we are looking at coming together to discussing with Mr. President and his team, with governors, technocrats and experts in the economy to see how we can tackle our troubled situation. We are working harder to deal with it.”
On the MTN fine, Yari said that NGF’s supported the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over the N1.4 trillion fine, adding that the service provider must pay up in full.
He said that the governors took the stand after the Acting Executive Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Professor Umar Dambata had brief them.
He said that the forum congratulated Dambata for his appointment even as it also commended the regulatory agency for its strict compliance and enforcement of the law with regards to the fine issued to MTN.
It advised the Federal Government to ensure prompt and full payment of the fine.
“Hence the MTN has accepted that they committed the offense and has apologized, and they are looking for leniency, we the governors forum decided to support the NCC to abide by the laws of the land and the laws of our land do not give leniency to deliberate offense to our nation.”
Yari said that the forum also received a presentation from the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) and resolved to fully cooperate with agency to help boost mechanization in the agricultural sector, promote small and medium scale enterprises and alternative energy generation across rural areas. [myad]
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