President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has described state governors who are saying that they cannot pay N62,000 as the new national minimum wage as lazy ones.
Speaking today, June 10, at the ongoing International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Ajaero conpared the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki who has been paying N70,000 as minimum wage to the state civil servants to other governors that are giving excuses.
The labour leader asked other governors to emulate Governor Obaseki and stop being lazy.
“Where is the governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki getting his money from (to pay N70,000 as minimum wage)? He is paying N70,000 minimum wage. This is the type of governor that should be emulated and not the lazy ones.”
The NLC President said: “how can any governor say he cannot pay? They cannot also be calling for the decentralization of the minimum wage.
“Are there wages decentralized? Governors whose states are not contributing a dime to the national purse and who generate pitiable Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) are collecting the same amount as governors whose states are generating billions of dollars into the FAAC.
“They should decentralize their salaries and emoluments first.”
Ajaero said that the organized labour will not resume the nationwide strike tomorrow or soon because President Bola Tinubu has not made official pronouncement on the outcome of the report that had been presented to him.
“We cannot declare strike now because the figures are with the President.”
He said that the tripartite committee’s proposals are awaiting the President’s decision and the NLC’s National Executive Council will deliberate on the new figure once it is announced.
“During the tenure of the immediate past President, the figure that was proposed to him was N27,000 by the tripartite committee but he increased it to N30,000. We are hopeful that this President will do the right thing. The President had noted that the difference between N62,000 and N250,000 is a wide gulf.”
