The Organized Labour on Saturday warned states to implement the federal government-approved new minimum wage or face workers’ unrest.
After a protracted negotiation with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), President Bola Tinubu had in July signed the new national minimum wage of N70,000 into law
However, over three months after the agreement was reached, the NLC has lamented that while some states have made progress towards the implementation of the new minimum wage, many others are still lagging behind in executing the agreement.
On Saturday morning, NLC spokesman, Benson Upah told some selected journalists that there are varying degrees of implementation across the country, pointing out that the consequential wage adjustment, which is the formula used to determine how much should be added to each worker’s wage, based on their cadre, is posing challenges in some instances.
The Congress appealed to state governments to take immediate action and fulfil their legal obligations, especially with rising costs of living and the recent fluctuations of exchange rates.
In the statement, Upah said, “All the states are at various levels of implementation. At least we know that Lagos State has raised its offer from the 70,000 it was paying to N85,000.
“We know that Ogun is paying N77, 000; Ondo, N73, 000; Kogi State, N72,500; Gombe is paying N71,500.
“The other states such as Delta, Adamawa, Edo, Borno, Ekiti, Cross River, and Benue are also paying. Other states have set up committees for implementation.
“Generally, the issue at the moment revolves around the consequential adjustment. That is where I would say we have some slight issues but even then, that would be sorted out, because as you know, this is a law and all the states are expected to obey the law.
“The states have become very rich, as you can see, the FAAC allocation to them has moved up. So, we do not expect any state to act in breach of this law. And besides that, the cost of living has pushed up. The naira has lost considerable value and anybody who says they cannot afford to pay will be causing trouble and trouble they will have.”
NEW PRIME DAILY checks show that other states that have indicated willingness to pay the new minimum wage are Rivers, Anambra, Katsina, Ebonyi, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Oyo, Borno, Osun and Benue.
Also speaking, the General Secretary of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Joshua Apebo, said that currently, no state has fully implemented the new minimum wage.
Apebo noted that many state governments have only made public declarations of their intention to comply.
He said, “From the information available to me, no state government has implemented minimum wage as at the moment.
“What state governments have done is just mere pronouncements on their willingness to pay.
“We are hoping that state governments will pay the minimum wage this month (October). We have noted too that there will be consequential adjustments across the grade levels.”
Asked what the union would do if some states fail to implement the new minimum wage, Opebo said: “I do not see any state refusing to pay because it is a law. They were part of the negotiation.
“They were presented at the Governor’s Forum. So they cannot refuse. The new minimum wage commenced in July, so we are expecting that by the time they finish negotiating with their various workers in the states, they will pay with the arrears.”
