The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF),has declared that while the Forum acknowledges the need for a new minimum wage and sympathizes with labour unions, the proposed N60,000 minimum wage is unsustainable.
In a statement issued on Friday by Halimah Salihu Ahmed, Director of Media and Public Affairs for NGF, the governors said the proposed minimum wage is too high and not sustainable.
According to the statement, the Forum urges all parties to consider the fact that the minimum wage negotiations also involve consequential adjustments across all cadres, including pensioners.
The NGF cautions parties in this important discussion to look beyond just signing a document for the sake of it; any agreement to be signed should be sustainable and realistic.
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“All things considered, the NGF holds that the N60,000 minimum wage proposal is not sustainable and can not fly.
” It will simply mean that many states will spend all their FAAC allocations on just paying salaries with nothing left for development purposes.
” In fact, a few states will end up borrowing to pay workers every month. We do not think this will be in the collective interest of the country, including workers.”
The NGF urged all parties involved in the negotiation process, particularly the labor unions, to take into account all socioeconomic factors and reach a sustainable agreement.
it stated, “We appeal that all parties involved, especially the labour unions, consider all the socioeconomic variables and settle for an agreement that is sustainable, durable, and fair to all other segments of the society who have legitimate claim to public resources,”
