Minimum Wage: Pay Or Be Impeached, Labour Tells Governors

The organized labor has said any governor who refuses to pay the N30,000 minimum wage signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on April 18, 2019, should be impeached.

Mr. Emmanuel Ugboaja, General-Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), made the appeal while fielding questions from journalists on Sunday in Lagos on claims by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum that the state governors would not pay beyond their individual capacities.

Ugboaja, who appealed to state Houses of Assembly to identify with workers by compelling governors to pay the new minimum wage, according to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) however,  said that there was no basis for the governors to complain about the new wage.

He said the governors had the capacity to pay and it will be criminal to say otherwise.

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“Some of these leaders ride in a private jet, so they can pay,’’ Ugboaja said.

He said that the organized labor was in support of the return of the Labour Advisory Council, which would help to mediate between government and workers.

He urged the Federal Government to take action against employers who would not pay the new wage.

After that, labour and the government debated heavily on the consequential adjustment of 0n workers’ salaries.

On Oct. 18, both parties agreed on 23.2 percentage increase for workers on grade level 07 and 20 per cent for those on grade level 08, while 19 percent would be received by workers on grade level 09, sixteen percent for those from levels 10 to 14 and 14 percent for grade levels 15 to 17.

NAN