Governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, have said they are not against approval of new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
The Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, on Wednesday, said the NGF was only questing after fiscal federalism that would aid the ability and capability of individual states to pay.
Organised labour is still at loggerhead with the Federal Government over delay tactics in implementing the new minimum wage for workers.
While the tripartite committee set up by the government suggested N62,000 to President Bola Tinubu, the governors asked that the new minimum wage be pegged at N57,000, arguing that most states could not pay the suggested amount.
But during the final meeting of the tripartite committee, the organised labour rejected the recommendations of both the tripartite committee and the NGF, insisting on 250,000 as the benchmark.
Oyebanji, speaking in Ado Ekiti, during the Seventh Quadrennial Delegates’ Conference of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, the governor reinstated that no state wanted to downsize its workforce, however, each state was interested in determining what it could afford that would not end up in the eventual retrenchment.
According to him, “The NGF is not against the living wage. No governor is against the minimum wage, but what we are saying is that it must reflect fiscal federalism, ability and capacity to pay.
“No governor wants to retrench, if there is a minimum wage today without a concurrent increment in what we are earning, no state can pay.
“That is the conversation we are having – that, look, we want to give you a living wage, but we must look at what comes to the states and whatever is in the best interest of the states and the workers, we will do.”
Oyebanji said to the delegates, “My appeal to civil servants is that those who would like to be part of our agriculture revolution should form themselves into cooperative societies and approach the Ministry of Agriculture for support.
“It may be difficult to support you individually, but when you form yourselves into cooperatives, many opportunities are available now. We are clearing land free of charge, we are giving inputs and we are going to buy from you. As I speak today, we have cleared more than 2,000 hectares across Ekiti State.
“I have come here today to associate and rejoice with you as major stakeholders in our body polity.
“More importantly, I am also here to learn from you and to share in your experience. As you know, the civil service is a reservoir of talents where you can find all professionals of different callings and experiences.
“A conference like this does not benefit the senior civil servants alone, it is an avenue for all of us to learn from one another, cross-fertilise ideas, and share experiences. I am, therefore, not just here as a special guest of honour, I am here as a student of Public Administration.”
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